Back to the Beginning a Sequel to Reyal's Rellik
by smiling
Summary: This is a sequel to Reyal's Rellik. Can be read as a standalone. Spoilers through Chosen BtVS and midSeason 5 AtS. Rating is a strong PG13 due to language, mild sex and violence. BTTB takes place a few months after Reyal's Rellik ends. Faith starts ha
1. Default Chapter

She didn't like the dark. When exactly did that start? A Slayer not liking the dark?

Oil and water much?

It had begun slowly at first, with an uneasy feeling when the sky began to take on the blue and purple hues of nightfall. Uneasiness was one thing; fear was something entirely different.

Not like she thought about it at the time, but now, Faith was beyond grateful that Spike had decided to hang for a while.

Spike always went with her on patrol in whatever city or town they happened to stop in. They would make the rounds, partake in the light banter and on most occasions try to outwit each other with the flirting on some primal level.

Let's not forget the sexual innuendos that seemed to be growing by leaps and bounds.

Faith was surprised that they hadn't made the leap yet; she figured it was only a matter of time, but for some reason, neither one of them could make the first move. She was attributing it to baggage.

They both had it and they both knew what was packed in the other's luggage.

When Faith had first started feeling the apprehension, she attributed it to true physical demons. She figured they were hiding somewhere, trying to sneak up on her. When she was out patrolling she found herself turning quickly around, expecting to find something lurking right behind her, but nothing was ever _right_ there.

Okay, on patrol she understood the disquiet, but in their hotel room?

The room was dark and she could barely see anything, even with her enhanced senses. Where in the hell was it coming from? If this was her Slayer-sense kicking in again, she didn't like it. She knew where it led the last time - knives and bleeding. Still, she wasn't having any freaky dreams, so she tried to make herself relax.

Faith squeezed her eyes shut and tried to get herself to calm down. Chill. Get some sleep. Take deep breaths. If she had some Jack, she probably would've downed a few shots of that at this point to see if it would help.

It was almost nightfall and if things didn't lighten up soon, in a matter of speaking, she was going to bolt. Go someplace else, anyplace else. Part of her hoped that once they left this town, the bad vibes would go away too.

Faith just needed some rest and at this point she'd settle for anything. But it wouldn't come. Every time she closed her eyes she could feel the panic rise. Her eyes sprang open involuntarily and she quickly scanned the darkened room, looking for an immediate threat, movement, anything. And yet again, there was nothing there, but that didn't change how she felt.

The fear stayed and the anxiety was keeping it company… only thing that made it go away? The light of day… or a very bright lamp.

Maybe she could crack the curtains? Let the light in? Not likely. Having a vampire for a roommate kind of changed the rules. Besides she didn't want to wake Spike up.

She knew the lack of sleep was starting to show. She was surprised Spike hadn't said anything. She also knew he had noticed because he'd started giving her those all-knowing glances which had a tendency to drive her more than slightly crazy, especially when she didn't want to talk about something.

Lately it seemed to be happening a lot more often. "Come on, pet. Talk to me." She should have it embroidered on a fucking sweater.

"Fuck it," Faith said, throwing back her covers. "Not working," she whispered vehemently. She sat up and swung her legs around to the side of the mattress, digging her toes impatiently into the cheap polyester carpeting.

She heard the lighter flick and saw the glow of the flame.

"Are you ever going to tell me what's eating you?"

If only she would've stayed still, he wouldn't have known she was awake. What was she thinking? Of course he'd known she was awake.

Damn vampire senses.

Faith flew across the room and switched on the lamp. "Who said anything's eating me? Nothing's eaten me in awhile, but thanks for asking."

"Wow. Cranky." Spike grinned. "Was pretty sure it's from the no sleep thing… got me thinkin' now it's something else," Spike said, raising his eyebrows suggestively.

Faith watched as he got out of bed gracefully and annoyingly well rested. "Go back to sleep," she said, unable to think of anything else to say.

"Kidding pet." He threw his hands up in surrender. "It was a joke, to lighten you up. You're wound tighter than a… well that thing's that's wound really tight."

"God. Enough already. I can't take it right now. I'm tired. I just want to sleep and I can't." She lowered her voice and met his eyes for the first time. "Satisfied?"

"You're not going to tell me the why to it, are you?" he asked quietly.

Faith just looked at him and didn't say a word.

"Fine," Spike said. "Come here." He motioned for her to sit on the foot of the bed.

Not trusting what he was up to, she stalled. "What?" she asked, not moving, arms crossed in front of her chest.

"Just stop. Come here." Spike's impatience was beginning to show.

Faith wasn't going to do it. She knew they had been spending a lot of time together. She sensed that Spike was trying to get closer. It just didn't work that way for her. The closer he tried to get, the more distant she became. And if distance didn't work, defensiveness usually did.

It was a stare down.

But Faith, after seeing how annoyed he was getting, reluctantly gave in. She didn't have the energy to put up a fight.

"Fine. I'm sitting. And look at that… I feel so much better now, thanks." She stood up and turned away from him.

Apparently, a vampire's patience had its limits. Faith realized she had just pushed Spike past his.

Spike smashed his cigarette out, stormed over to her and forced her to sit back down. When she tried to get up he wouldn't have anything to do with it. He pushed her down, somewhat roughly, held her arms and straddled her with his legs.

"Now that I have your undivided attention," Spike leaned closer to her, their noses almost touching, "this is the end of this. The tough girl act is over, done. We've been through a lot lately and if you can't trust me now, you never will. I'll go back to L.A. and you can go on your sweet candy-ass-way all alone. Got it?"

Faith felt the heat of anger rising up in her chest. Who did he think he was talking to? She'd done him a favor by letting him tag along when she would've been just fine on her own. So what if she had the dark issue. She'd deal. She always dealt. Faith didn't need anyone telling her what to do; she'd had more than enough of that in her lifetime.

"Fine. Go. I'm not stopping you." She tried to get up again, but Spike just firmed his grip on her arms. "Get off me," she demanded.

"Not until you talk to me."

"God. Why do you care? I can't sleep. No big. And yes I know that sounds familiar, but no wigged dreams, just a little no sleepage."

"And you're afraid of the dark," Spike said softly.

How could he know that?

Spike loosened his grasp, but she knew she hadn't earned her freedom yet, he was still holding her down. "You tense up when the light's lacking. Seen it. Felt it."

"When did you become the all-knowing, all-seeing vampire is what I would like to know?"

Spike laughed. "Thinkin' it has something to do with hanging around all you Slayers, gotta learn to survive the mood swings."

Faith couldn't help it, she smiled back at him. "If you don't get off of me, there's going to be more than just talking going on."

She realized what a precarious situation they had gotten themselves into. She wiggled her hips and smiled coyly. That's when she felt him tense up. His legs squeezed her hips just a little bit tighter and he leaned closer in to her, his body almost entirely covering hers. Faith caught her breath. She had meant it all in jest, but the mood had changed again.

Electricity replaced the space that was no longer between them.

Faith felt a twinge in her lower stomach. She realized that Spike was no longer trying to hold her down and she was no longer trying to get up. And there was no mistaking that Spike was definitely having a reaction to the entire situation.

Their gazes locked and he was looking at her, _really_ looking at her. And Faith knew what that look meant. Faith was the one that was supposed to be in control. The men she had wanted her, she knew it. It had always been up to her whether or not she'd give in. Somewhere along the line, that had changed. Her body had betrayed her.

It was telling Spike that she wanted him too.

Faith needed to get up and get up fast.

Before he knew what happened to him, Spike was flipped flat on his back. Faith tried to ignore the stunned look on his face, just seconds before they'd been belly to belly on the bed. Now Faith was standing next to it trying to pretend nothing had happened.

Usually they played, teased each other. This was different.

Of course she had thought about it. Who wouldn't think about it? All you needed was one look at him, the blond hair, the blue eyes, and the strong athletic build. Who wouldn't have thought about getting down and dirty with him?

Was he even her type? Did Faith have a type? She used to tell herself that as long as a guy was breathing, he was her type.

Come to think of it, that didn't even work in this situation since Spike didn't breathe. What in the hell was she thinking?

Faith's lack of sleep was beginning to show even more.

Spike stood up quickly. "So you going to tell me what's going on?"

In regards to what, Faith thought. She wasn't even sure what he was talking about anymore. Like she'd tell him anything anyway. It didn't matter who they were, the quicker you let someone in, the better your chances of getting your heart squashed. She knew Spike wasn't like that. She _knew _it. Now if she could only _feel_ it.

The head and heart thing, it sucked when they didn't agree.

"For the record," she began. "I absolutely hate it when you try to get me to say something. I don't talk because I don't know what to say and you going all caveman on me doesn't help. Okay?"

Spike nodded. He probably had no clue where she was going to take this. That made two of them.

"I have no idea why my spidey-sense has gone crazy lately. Yes, I know I need to listen to it, but I just don't know what it's saying right now."

He didn't say a word. Faith knew he was waiting for more. "Fine, when I know something I will tell you. Okay?" she added exasperated.

Spike nodded his agreement. "You will tell me and soon. Or maybe I will have to beat it out of you."

Then she added quietly, "I'd like to see you try."

XXXXX

Faith never got any sleep.

Before she knew it, they were out patrolling again. She should be getting used to the awkward silence. What did it matter to her? She preferred the quiet. It was a hell of a lot better than trying to open up and _share her feelings_.

Faith shuddered at the thought.

They were in the cemetery, the same one they had been in every night for a week. The place was crawling with newbies and she and Spike were trying to figure out why. They had decided there was a single maker; they just didn't have anything to prove it. The vamps they had caught and eventually dusted weren't talking, and when they did talk they didn't help much.

Faith currently had one of them pinned up against a tree.

Her forearm was pressed firmly across the vamp's neck, his eyes darting side-to-side looking for a way to get away from her.

"See," Faith began, giving the vamp a hard uppercut under its chin with her forearm, "you're like the second virgin vamp I've seen tonight. You would be the lucky one, being the first I've gotten my hands on and all, but I'm still lacking info here and I feel the need for you to share."

She ignored the confusion in the vamp's eyes. "Share what you know. Where did you come from?"

The vamp grinned. Struggling to talk, he finally uttered, "Your momma."

She was so not in the mood for this. Faith raised her stake high enough for him to see it. The vamp's eye grew wide in horror.

"Tell her 'hi' when you see her, will ya?" Faith shoved the stake through the vamp so hard that it lodged in the tree.

"Whoa," Spike said. "A little pent up frustration or what?"

Faith turned and glared at him. "I got nothing out of him. A bunch of shit that's useless." She yanked her stake out of the tree and shoved it into the back of her jeans. "Otherwise known as useless shit." She stormed away.

Not finding out something was annoying enough. Her unease at being out here at all didn't help matters. She felt like she was going to explode. She needed to find another vamp and quick.

Faith needed to dust something.

Didn't take long before she spotted another vamp on the furthest side of the cemetery. It was trying to hide behind the chapel. "Nice try," she whispered and took off after it, not caring that Spike was trying to keep up.

"Come out; come out, wherever you are…" She said sweetly. She knew that the demon was hiding behind the chapel in between two bushes. "It'll be over quick. Well, maybe. It depends on how nice you are to me."

She used her training to sneak up on the vamp, yanking it out of the bushes by the collar. Her roundhouse kick had it flattened on the ground in no time. Faith straddled him, stake pointed at his heart.

"I've had a shit day. If you make it worse for me, I'll make sure yours turns into shit too. Got it?" Not waiting for an answer she continued. "I need to know who turned you. I need to know where they are. I need to know what they look like. And, if at all possible, I would like to know where they might be at this very moment."

Fear shone in the demon's eyes.

"You should be scared. I will use this stake on you. It's up to you whether or not that's the only thing I do. Need an example?" Faith punched the vamp in the face. "That's the beginning I can do more. Wanna see?"

The vamp shook its head frantically from side to side.

"Good boy," she said patting his cheek.

It didn't take long for the vamp to tell her what it knew. Faith was tempted to smack him around some more. It made her feel better. It let her think of something else for the time being. But demon or not, she had promised him that'd she make it quick, so she did.

She knew Spike had been watching the whole time.

"Done now?" he asked.

"I'm doing my job. Remember my job?" she asked standing up to face him squarely.

"There's one thing in doing your job. It's another thing to act like you're enjoying it so bloody much."

"What do you want from me? I'm supposed to slay and that's what I'm doing. I'm trying to find out who in hell is making all these vamps around here lately, so just back off okay?"

Faith stalked away. Too bad she didn't see the decorative rocks that had been strewn about in her struggle with the vamp. She tripped and began to fall. Before she could hit the ground Spike was in front of her, catching her and pulling her close, chest-to-chest, face-to-face they stood, staring at each other.

Faith was feeling way too many emotions. Her fear never left her and her adrenaline was up from staking the vamp and arguing with Spike. Their close proximity was creating yet another emotion.

If Faith was being honest with herself, she would admit it wasn't a bad one.

So Faith did what she always does when someone got too close; she pushed them away. "I'm fine. Thanks." She walked back to the car.

XXXXX

The next night Spike suggested they go out and get something to eat before patrolling.

Faith was tired and she didn't argue for once. She actually told him that she was starving, which she was. Life on the road led to a bunch of bad food, and she was ready for something good for a change.

She could tell he wanted to drive the Viper. "Fine," she said tossing him the keys. "Wherever we're going better be good."

They got to the Viper just after sundown.

And there it was. Faith wondered when the anxiety was going to start. She felt it. Her heartbeat sped up. Her breathing increased. She started to feel very warm and a little dizzy. All it took was stepping out of the hotel room and into the darkened parking lot.

She glanced around nervously and was relieved when Spike finally had unlocked the car door. Once they were in, doors locked, lights switched on, relief swept through her.

Spike peeled out of the hotel parking lot and onto the expressway.

After close to a half an hour of driving and not saying anything, she finally asked, "Where are we going?"

"What? Ruin the surprise? Not thinkin' so."

Faith knew he wasn't going to tell her no matter how many times she asked.

"If we don't get there soon I could be dead from starvation. You're already dead, so you don't care," she said teasingly.

Spike grinned. "Doesn't mean I don't like a good meal on occasion. Need I remind you of the bloomin' onion hunt we went on?"

This time she laughed. "Obsess much? I don't know anyone who would drive for two hours to find an onion."

"Right," he said glancing at her. "Who ate half of it?"

Faith looked around trying to figure out where he could possibly be taking her. Finally he got off at a remote exit, most definitely out of the way. The only buildings she could spot were a gas station, a corner store and a small restaurant.

"Okay," she said hesitantly. "We drove an hour for…?" she left the question hanging.

"Trust me."

XXXXX

He was right.

The restaurant it was. Faith found out that a little old couple owned the place and it had been in the family for years. It was the closest thing to home cooking she had ever had, not including the food B's mom would whip up occasionally after they patrolled.

The wife was the one serving them and the husband was in the back cooking. Whenever a customer ordered something, the wife would call out, "Did you get that, Earl?"

Earl always responded, "Yes, Dottie."

There weren't more than six tables in the place. When they first arrived, they were all filled. They'd waited fifteen minutes before Dottie could seat them. By the time they were done eating, they were the only ones left.

"How'd you know about this place?" she asked Spike.

"Been around. Stopped in one time… A while go... Was hungry." He leaned towards her, adding quietly, "And not for something off the menu, if you catch my meaning." He must've noticed her reaction. "I couldn't do it. Something about Ma and Pa Kettle," he motioned over his shoulder. "Ever since… stop by for a bite when I can," he said, smiling mischievously.

"Explains a lot," Faith said sitting back in her seat. "I am stuffed."

Dottie returned to their table. "You're stuffed? You're thin as a rail girl! Dessert. You need dessert."

"Really," Faith began, patting her usually flat stomach. "I can't. Too full."

Spike jumped into the conversation. "Peach pie, Dot. She'll find the room."

Faith gave him a look but Dottie chose to ignore it. "I'll be right back," she said, and trotted away.

"Do you expect me to patrol tonight?" Faith asked him. "I won't be able to move."

"No worries. Thinkin' you wouldn't have any problems moving no matter how full you are." And then he added, "And no matter what you were trying to do," he said winking.

"Play your cards right…," she said leaning back in her chair. "I'm just saying… one never knows."

XXXXX


	2. Back to the Beginning a Sequel to Reyal'...

Faith was wrong.

She could eat more, and the empty peach pie plate sitting on the table back at the restaurant was proof.

She and Spike were now headed back to their hotel, they needed to patrol.

At least that's what Faith thought they were doing. Spike drove right past their exit.

"What now?" she asked, "I thought we were going back?"

Spike smiled that quirky smile of his but didn't answer.

Spike took an exit a few down from theirs. He drove a little while and finally pulled into a parking lot

Faith looked around, trying to see where he had taken her. A night club? He was taking her dancing?

She didn't think it was such a good idea. There had been a lot of vampire activity and a night off seemed like they were slacking. She said as much.

"Stop," he exclaimed getting out of the car and walking around to open her door. "Been goin' nonstop since L.A. Haven't let up. Need some fun. Reduce the anxiety and all."

Faith wasn't moving. She didn't care that Spike had opened her door. She wasn't getting out.

"Come," he said, lightly taking her arm. "Trust me."

XXXXX

When they walked in and the first thing Faith noticed was how busy the club was. Well, if you could call it that.

Stick a dance floor in the middle of Ma and Pa Kettle's diner and you'd have this place. She grinned anyway. Maybe Spike was right. Maybe she did need to loosen up a little bit. Have some real fun for a change. She'd put herself under way too much pressure lately, for far too many reasons than she cared to think about at the moment.

Spike took her arm and led her towards a table in the back.

Faith was ready for a drink. As if summoned, a waitress came by and a short time later came back, bearing alcohol.

After that, nothing much mattered; she just danced and Spike just watched. Spike was a hot guy, but he was no dancer. Didn't bother her though, not like it was the first time she danced alone.

Prince's _Little Red Corvette _ended and a new song started.

Spike came up to her and asked if she wanted to rest. Faith shook her head no and kept dancing.

Miss independent  
Miss self-sufficient  
Miss keep your distance, mmm  
Miss unafraid  
Miss out of my way  
Miss don't let a man interfere, no  
Miss on her own  
Miss almost grown  
Miss never let a man help her off her throne  
So, by keeping her heart protected  
She'd never ever feel rejected  
Little miss apprehensive  
Said ooh, she fell in love

Spike was still hovering by her, so she moved closer and asked, "I've never heard this before. Who is it?"

Faith felt Spike's lips brush her ear as he told her. An uncontrollable shiver went down her back. "Kelly Clarkson."

"Who?"

"_American Idol_? Season One winner?"

Faith shook her head no, trying to shake off the surprising feeling that overcome her, yet again.

"You need to get out more," Spike said looking at her. She couldn't help but notice the way his eyes sparkled in the multi-colored lights.

"You should talk!" she proclaimed.

Miss guarded heart  
Miss play it smart  
Miss if you want to use that line you better not start, no  
But she miscalculated  
She didn't want to end up jaded  
And this miss decided not to miss out on true love  
So, by changing her misconceptions  
She went in a new direction  
And found inside she felt a connection  
She fell in love

Faith began going to the place she went to when she was alone, alone with the music.

_What is this feelin' takin' over?  
Thinkin' no one could open the door (open the door)  
Surprise...It's time (yeah)  
To feel what's real (what's real)  
What happened to Miss Independent?  
No longer need to be defensive  
Goodbye (goodbye), old you (old you)  
When love, when love is true_

Faith was almost in a trance; this is where she felt the most content. How could she forget that? Music had always been her escape. Her salvation. The thing she would do when she needed to get away. The place she would go so she wouldn't need to think. To talk. She had forgotten that. Spike was right. She did need this. The more she danced, the more relaxed she felt.

Faith wasn't naïve. She was pretty sure that the alcohol probably had something to do with the relaxed… who gives a shit attitude too.

What is this feelin' takin' over?  
Thinkin' no one could open the door  
Surprise (surprise), it's time (yeah)  
To feel (to feel) what's real  
What happened to Miss Independent?  
No longer need to be defensive  
Goodbye (goodbye), old you  
When love, when love is true..

Once the song ended, Faith realized Spike was gone. Looking around the club, she saw him standing just off the dance floor. He was clapping and walking towards her.

"Bravo," he said, smiling brightly.

Faith had originally thought he had gone back to their table, but he had been watching her the whole time. Like she cared. Faith was used to being watched.

She shook her head and went back to the table. Her drink was waiting and without even sitting, she downed it.

Sitting down, Spike said, "Goin' to have a drunken slayer on my hands then?"

"Not even close to being drunk. Not yet anyway" Without thinking, Faith walked over to him and placed a soft kiss on his lips. "Thanks." She turned and headed back towards the dance floor, wondering what the hell she had just done.

Okay, so maybe she was a little drunk.

XXXXX

Faith hadn't danced so much in a long time. She was sorry to see it end but she was done.

"I am smokin'!" she declared to Spike, who was leaning against the wall, sipping a beer. "Ready to go? I need some air."

Spike didn't seem to mind since he tossed some bills on the table and followed her out. He had mumbled something about needing some air too.

Faith didn't get into the car right away and Spike seemed to sense her unease. "What?" he asked.

Looking around she replied, "Nothing. Just that vibe again. But there's nothing here, is there?"

Spike shook his head, but he continued to watch her closely.

Faith made herself calm down. She kept the anxiety just under the surface where it belonged, where it couldn't be detected so easily. She appreciated that he had tried hard to show her a good time and she'd be damned if she was going to ruin it now. She had to at least give him that.

"Pretty much what I figured," she said opening the passenger side door. "Yes, you can drive… again." Smiling, she slammed the door shut.

Okay, why wasn't he getting in the car?

Spike was just standing there. Granted his expression didn't look all that great. He had the whole frowny thing going. The problem was, the longer they sat there not moving, the more uncomfortable she became.

Faith couldn't stand it anymore. She got out of the car.

"Why are you just standing there? You sick? You are looking a little pale." Faith realized what she had said and started laughing.

Spike didn't say anything, he just looked at her.

"What is wrong with you?" Her eyelids veiled her brown eyes ever so slightly. "Fine. I'm a little drunk. I admit it. That's why you got the keys." She hiccupped. "I had a lot of Jack and I haven't drank in awhile. I'll sober up. Really. Should be anytime now." Faith climbed back into the car. "Do you have a smoke?" she yelled out the window.

Spike ignored her request for a cigarette, but finally got into the car. Still not saying anything, he started the car, backed up and started driving them out of the parking lot.

He kept up with the strong-silent-type thing until they got back to their hotel.

If anything made Faith crazy, it was being ignored.

"Are you mad at me about something?" she asked as they pulled into the parking lot. "This all quiet thing is weirding me out, okay? I'm sorry I got lit. I'm better now."

He still didn't say anything.

"Shit. Fine," she said, getting out of the car. "I'm going to bed."

She sounded like a bitch. So what. Why should she care? He still hadn't said a word and he was still just sitting there.

"Balls," Spike muttered.

Faith was relieved to hear that he was finally getting out of the car. She didn't turn around and look at him, she was too busy trying to get the damned key in the lock. Thing wouldn't fit in the stupid hole and it was pissing her off.

Okay, she wasn't totally sober and she really wasn't sure what was going on with him. And she refused to turn around to see what he was doing.

If Spike wanted to act like a jerk for no reason, let him. It wasn't her problem.

Faith's thoughts were interrupted when the hairs on the back of her neck went on high alert. Spike was standing close behind her now. A little too close.

Faith turned around. She'd had enough. "What is your problem?"

For a second time they were nose-to-nose. Still, Spike said nothing.

"Listen," she began, "if I made you mad about something, sorry. Okay?" Faith was surprised to hear the slight sound of pleading in her voice, that wasn't like her at all.

She waited for him to say something, anything.

"What?" she demanded. She was getting beyond pissed now.

Spike grabbed her by the shoulders, looked her in the eyes and then pulled her to him, his lips finding hers, holding nothing back.

What the hell?

Shocked, Faith just stood there. Arms now dangling uselessly at her sides, not returning his kiss, but not stopping his tongue from exploring her mouth either.

Spike was kissing her. Spike?

Somewhere along the way, Faith started kissing him back.

Her arms slowly came up and wrapped around his neck, her fingers found their way to his hair pulling his head closer, their bodies pressing more tightly together. She felt as though she couldn't get enough of his mouth. She wanted more.

They didn't need a key to open the hotel door. Still kissing, they slammed their bodies into it. The door flew open, the lock broken. The doorknob thankfully, was not. Spike stopped grinding against her long enough to try and close it, but it wouldn't stay shut. Faith grabbed a chair haphazardly and rammed it under the knob.

Mission accomplished.

Faith wasn't thinking anymore. She was going on instinct. An instinct she hadn't given into for a long time. She pulled at Spike's clothes, wanting them out of her way. She wanted to feel him. She dropped the jacket, then the shirt, and ran her hands down his arms, over his chest and then down his back.

Her lips followed her hands as she ventured down his chest and onto his stomach, kissing him lightly as she went. She felt his intake of non-breath and smiled. "I could stop," she said coyly up to him, her eyes shining brightly.

"Not bloody likely," he replied pulling her back up to his lips.

She brushed her hand lightly across the front of his jeans and smiled.

"You are a wicked woman," he whispered against her mouth. "I can play, too." He stepped back so suddenly, Faith she almost fell.

"What are you doing?" she asked, noticing the wicked smile that enveloped his face. He had crossed his arms in front of his chest.

So that's how it was going to be.

Faith stepped back and crisscrossed her arms in front of her. She grasped the bottom of her tank top and pulled it up over her head.

Spike didn't move.

She reached for the top button of her jeans and undid them, letting the zipper slide down slowly; opening her jeans just enough so he could get a glance of what she had inside.

Nothing. He still didn't move.

Faith turned her back on him. The fleeting thought of him being a vampire flickered briefly through her brain, but she was too far gone at the moment to let it faze her.

She glanced over her shoulder and caught his hot gaze. He was still watching. She smiled wickedly, knowing that she still had his undivided attention. She unhooked her bra, letting it fall to the floor. Faith didn't turn around. She didn't need to.

Spike barreled toward her and grabbed her from behind, hands going to her breasts. "You win!" he said, his momentum carried her backwards, both of them falling on one of the beds. Spike spun her around and started kissing her again.

Pulling away from his lips briefly, Faith whispered, "You are so easy."

"I'm easy, then," he said through gritted teeth. "Now will you please stop talking?"

XXXXX

Faith lay spent on the bed, not quite wrapped in Spike's arms. She felt very content at the moment. God, she loved sex. She had almost forgotten how much… almost.

"You okay?" he asked. "You can talk now," he added with a smirk.

"I think I've talked enough for one night," she said, smiling. "I think I've done enough of everything for one night." Faith glanced at the clock. "And for half the day too."

"It's bloody 2:00 o'clock?" he asked.

"Yep. I heard about the vampire endurance," she said. "Now I've seen it first hand. No wonder B has a thing for you guys."

"What!" Spike asked, sounding somewhat shocked.

Faith wasn't sure where the 'shocked' was coming from, so she tried to explain what she meant.

"Oh," she said sitting up, the sheet that was covering her falling away. She barely noticed. "It's just... I just… you... we..." She was struggling for words. "There's certain perks that come with being a Slayer," she said. "Speedy healing. Heightened senses. Being able to screw more than the average girl. More stamina ya know?"

"And?"

"Never stopped to think that vampires were the same way," she said shrugging her shoulders. "You kept up with me, that's a first and it was... damn! I kinda like it."

"Kind of liked it?" he asked holding up one of his hands. "Once the count goes to the second hand," he held up the second one, "it goes way beyond kind of liking it. It goes into really, really liking it."

Spike leaned closer to her, slightly caressing her chin and placed another soft lingering kiss against her mouth.

The next time they looked at the clock, it was 4:30.

XXXXX

Faith woke up and stretched lazily. She glanced at the rumpled sheets where Spike had been and realized the sound she'd woken to had been the shower running. Maybe she'd join him. Faith then glanced at the clock on the nightstand. Okay. Not a good idea. She got up instead, threw on Spike's shirt and flipped on the TV.

Spike emerged from the bathroom shortly thereafter and walked over to place a small kiss on her forehead. "Sleeping Beauty awakens."

Stretching. "I couldn't help it. I'm starving."

He smiled. "Not surprising. Worked up quite an appetite I reckon. Ordered room service. Should be here anytime."

As if on cue, there was a soft knock on the door. "I'll get it," he said.

Spike dropped the towel that was wrapped around his waist and grabbed a pair of jeans, putting them on. He moved the chair and opened the door.

"Great," Faith said. "I'm gonna grab a quick shower first though."

Faith came out of the bathroom, dressed in jeans, t-shirt and was towel drying her hair.

"Something smells good and that scares me. Not like this is a five-star hotel." She walked over to where Spike had set the food up. "Pizza? The hotel has a pizza joint?"

Spike laughed. "Nope. Paid the guy extra to run out and get pizza once I saw what today's special was."

"Whatever. I just need food," she said, tossing the wet towel on an end table and sitting down next to Spike on the bed.

"You should've seen the prat's face when he saw what we did to the door."

"Guess we'll be owing a little extra at checkout."

"Thinking so. You up to patrolling tonight?" he asked between bites.

"Which answer do you want?"

"I want your answer."

"I don't want to, but I... we will," she said correcting herself. "We didn't go last night. Figured we'll be moving on pretty soon. Might as well finish up this place tonight."

"Okay then."

Faith pushed the pizza aside. "First," she placed her hands on his chest and pushed him back against the bed, "there's something I need to do…"

XXXXX

Between the two of them, the newbies' numbers had finally dwindled down.

Faith thought if they could find the main vamp that was making them, they could leave with a clear conscience. Thanks to the fledglings they had questioned earlier, they now had a good description and a pretty good idea of where she was.

Faith had switched into business mode. "You go over there." She indicated to Spike the crypt she wanted him to check out. "I'm going to look over this one." She kept her apprehension in check. The oh-no-it's-dark anxiety was there, but now she was dealing with it the only way she knew how, she ignored it.

She approached the crypt that had caught her interest. She was grateful for the full moon that kept her company, its brightness lighting up her way.

Faith edged her away around the side of the building as quietly as she could. She didn't want to announce her presence, at least not yet. She finally made her way to the opened door and glanced inside. Something was in there she felt it. She just hoped it was what she was looking for.

"Knock-Knock. Anybody home?" she asked going through the doorway, stake held low, hidden at her side.

"Who are you?" came the feminine reply.

Faith didn't answer. Instead she moved further into the crypt, keeping the walls to her back, getting a better look at what she was dealing with.

She was there, the vampire who was making the others. Faith was surprised; the description they got was perfect. By the looks of it she had arrived just in time. The vamp held a terrified teenager by the neck, his head tilted towards her long, pointy teeth. Faith was relieved to see that he hadn't been bitten yet, at least not from what she could see.

"Thinking it might be past curfew. Probably need to let him go now. Don't want mom wigging out do you?"

The vampire looked incredulous. "What would I care about what the mother thinks?"

"I asked you once nicely," Faith continued this time flashing her stake. "The second time not so nice."

Doubt finally flickered through the vampire's eyes, her self-assurance waning.

Faith knew the vamp had no idea what she was dealing with. "I can see your confusion. I feel for you. Really, I do. Two words – Vampire Slayer, bitch. And yes, I know that was three words," Faith shrugged. "I changed my mind at the last minute."

Not waiting for the demon to respond, Faith used the wall behind her for support. She kicked off and did a complete spin in the air, landing soundlessly next to her. Faith spun around and landed a kick to the side of the vamp's leg making her stumble. She lost her grip on the boy.

Faith pulled him away from her. "Go… now!" she instructed.

Once he was safely out of the crypt, she refocused her attention on the demon.

"Now that we're alone let's end this quick okay, I have a date." Faith knew Spike had shown up. Spike must've seen the kid leaving the tomb and came to see what was going on.

The vamp glanced at Spike, who was leaning again the crypt door wearing his game face, arms crossed in front of him.

"You're a vampire," the she-vamp said. "Shouldn't you be on my side? What are you doing? Fighting with her against your own kind?"

Spike growled and on her before Faith could react. He turned, snatching the stake from Faith's hand. "Mind if I borrow this?"

They left while the dust was still settling to the floor.

XXXXX

Faith and Spike had found a few more newbies scattered around. But newborn vamps were easily dispensed with. She and Spike were fairly certain that they had cleaned up the nest the she-vamp was trying to make for herself.

"What is it with vampires and minions?" Faith asked. "I mean seriously. Minions are usually newbies. Don't know that much. Make stupid mistakes. Like with Cooper. He had a good plan. Looking back, his minions were the ones that messed it up. He'd been better off if he'd done it on his own."

"Power," Spike provided. "Have your own personal army. Own personal toys. They do what you tell them to do. No questions asked. They do what you don't feel like doing. Things you feel are a waste of your time. Things you think are beneath you… in a matter of speaking. They complain about it or question it they die. Kind of a simple life really."

"He speaks from experience," she said, giving him a sideways glance.

Spike chose not to answer.

XXXXX

Sunup was a few hours away and Faith wished it would get here a little quicker. Of course Spike was glad they still had a few hours left. Being with him made Faith feel a little better.

Just a little.

They agreed to hang one more day... and night, and then go someplace else. Faith just wanted to make sure they have gotten all the fledglings they could before they left. One more sweep of the cemetery would do it. Spike didn't think it was necessary, but as usual, he agreed with the slayer when it came to patrolling.

They made it back to their hotel without incident. Faith pointed out that the door had been fixed in their absence. They only had one problem remaining, Spike needed blood. He knew where to get it, he just wasn't sure that leaving Faith alone was a good idea.

"You sure you'll be okay?"

"I will be fine. I have lamps. Go already," she said, pushing him out the door. "I'm going to shower. You probably won't be gone an hour. No big. Now go."

She didn't give him time to protest. The door was closed and Faith watched as the car sped out of the parking lot. He'd be back in no time. Knowing that, she smiled and went to take her shower.

XXXXX

Spike picked up carryout and got something for her too.

"Told you I'd be fine." She wasn't about to admit to him that she was relieved when he finally showed up.

"What is it?" she asked, grabbing the bag out of his hand. "Dottie's Peach Pie! I love this stuff," she said, kissing him quickly on the lips.

"There are two pieces and one's mine!"

XXXXX

"I'm dreaming… again. Damn it!"

Faith knew it. She should've known it would be coming. She just hoped it would've waited a little while. She had been content and she had finally managed to fall asleep.

Where in the hell am I?

Wait! I know this place. God did she know this place, the tables, the chairs, the pool table, the bar, the dance floor.

If she went out the back the alley would be there. She headed out the door anyway.

And there it was. The alley behind the Bronze. Faith walked a little further down and stopped. This was the spot where she had staked that vamp. The spot where she had met most of them for the first time.

Faith willed herself to wake up. She knew what she had to do.

"Wake up," she said, shaking Spike. "We need to go to Sunnydale."

Not waiting for him to respond, Faith got up and started packing.

Spike was fully awake now. "What? You're dreaming. There is no Sunnydale. Remember?"

"I wouldn't be so sure. Now get up and pack"

"You're not making sense," Spike said, sitting up. "What makes you so bloody sure?"

"I feel it. I know it. However you want to explain it. We need to go and we need to go now."

"I'm not so…"

Faith didn't let him finish. "I'm leaving. Up to you whether or not you're coming with. But you need to make up your mind… quickly."

XXXXX

Disclaimer **Miss Independent"; Sung By Kelly Clarkson**; Lyrics By Rhett Lawrence/Christina Aguilera/Kelly Clarkson

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Page 15 of 15


	3. Back to the Beginning a Sequel to Reyal'...

Spike hadn't even bothered to get dressed.

He was standing naked next to the bed. "We can't just leave. Not 'til you tell me what's going on."

"You can either come with, or stay. It's up to you," Faith said not looking at him. "This isn't a choice for me. It's something I need to do."

"At least tell me why?" He asked walking over to her.

She had gotten dressed and was almost done packing. Faith paused and looked at him. How did she explain a feeling? It was just a feeling. He should know after what happened with Cooper and the Old One. She shouldn't have to explain. Spike should trust her on this.

"You know I've been a little off lately. Kind of anxious." She refused to admit she was scared to him or anybody else. "What I didn't tell you is that I've been dreaming of Sunnydale. I need to go back."

She could tell he didn't know what to say and she didn't blame him. Sunnydale had somehow rematerialized? How could that be? Just because Sunnydale fell into the hellmouth didn't mean the hellmouth was gone. Temporarily closed maybe? Faith figured it would've stayed closed a hell of a lot longer. On the other hand, it shouldn't surprise her. Nothing should surprise her when it came to the hellmouth or Sunnydale.

Spike sat down on the edge of the bed. "If you want me to come…" He was cut off by the sound of jingling coming from somewhere. He looked around. "What is that?"

Faith was momentarily confused, and then a spark of recognition crossed her face. "It's the phone Angel gave me. I don't know where it is. We haven't used the damn thing since we left L.A."

They started searching for it; Spike pulled apart the beds and the sheets, flinging pillows all over the room while Faith rummaged through their bags. She finally found it in an outside pocket of her canvas bag. "Hello," she said breathlessly.

"Hey!" She sat down slowly on the bed, not saying much except for an occasional, "Uh-huh."

Spike took the opportunity to get dressed. Just looking at his face she could see he was about as edgy as she was. She just wanted to hurry up and get off the phone and tell him what was going on.

"Okay," she finally said. "Yep, he's still here." She glanced at Spike. "I don't know. Guess I'll find out. No. Thanks, Giles." She hung up.

Spike's shock showed. "Did you just say… Giles?"

Faith cast her eyes down. "He called Angel. Angel gave him the number." She sat there, fiddling with the cell phone, not meeting his gaze. She wasn't sure how to start.

Spike came and sat down next to her. "Faith..." He said gently squeezing her hand.

Faith slowly looked up at him. She was nervous and she wasn't sure if it stemmed from the fear of what his response would be or what he would do once he knew. Faith was kind of getting used to having him around.

She began slowly. "Something's up."

"Just like you said, innit?" Spike said.

Faith nodded. "Sunnydale is back." She didn't stop when she saw the shock register on Spike's face. "And I mean back. The Bronze, the high school, the Hellmouth, the Magic Box, the people. They're all there. Giles is still trying to figure out why. It's like it was never gone."

"What exactly does Rupert want you to do?"

This was going to be the hard part and she knew it. Realizing she had to say something, she started again. "He wanted to know if I had been having any dreams, specifically about Sunnydale."

"How would he know about the dreams?"

Faith paused. She knew the next thing she said was the deal breaker, the one thing that could change everything. But she knew it needed to be said.

"Because Buffy has been having dreams too."

Okay, she'd said it.

Spike stood up and walked to the window, not even bothering to look out. "You're meeting her in Sunnydale aren't you?"

"She's flying in from Italy. She'll be landing at Sunnydale Airport in about three hours. It will take us just over two to get there." Then seeing his face added, "Well, if you still want to go. I can go alone, it's not a big deal."

Spike said something softly.

Faith moved closer so she could hear him.

"She still doesn't know," he repeated.

"You wouldn't talk about it before?" Faith said softly.

"I know." Spike said. "Never saw the need really. She was moving on … getting on with it. She was thousands of miles away, living it up finally. Things were different for her and I didn't want to ruin it. Let her move on… past is past, right? I had moved on. I … and you." He said finally looking at her. "I bloody should've known," Spike said. "I bloody should've told her." He went and sat back down on the bed, rubbing his hands through his hair.

Faith kneeled down in front of him. "What are you going to do?"

XXXXX

The Scoobies were going back to Sunnydale.

How had this happened? When Giles had called her to casually ask if she had been having any sort of reoccurring dreams, she didn't think anything of it. Of course now she knew better. Buffy should've known better then.

When did she become so laid back? So not on guard every time Giles called? That was a dumb question. When she was no longer the only Chosen One.

No longer the only Chosen One. That had actually made her happy. Now she had time to sit back and relax, enjoy life somewhat and finally let go of all the worry that dogged her for most of her life.

She suspected those days were over.

Buffy glanced out the window of the airplane, not seeing the clouds that were rolling by, the gentle sound of the engine, lulling her into a comfortable place where she could be alone with her thoughts.

Giles had come in from England to tell her in person about Sunnydale's reappearance. He met her in the house she shared with Dawn. Shortly after Giles arrived, Xander came back from Africa and Willow and Kennedy came in from San Paulo. Buffy wasn't surprised that Giles had already contacted them.

Before everyone got there she knew she'd needed to let Dawn in on what was going on. She owed her that much. Buffy was doing her best to not over-protect her sister. Sometimes it worked, most times it didn't.

Dawn of course, had a fit when she realized she wasn't going back to California with the rest of them.

"You need to stay in school," Buffy told her.

"You're going to leave me here? Alone with all the Euro-vamps? No way. I have to come."

"Actually you don't," came Kennedy's voice from the doorway. "I'm staying here with you."

"And Giles is staying too," Buffy added.

"You're leaving me with a babysitter? No. Make that two babysitters." Dawn was visibly offended. "I am seventeen years old Buffy. Almost eighteen. You can't make me stay here. I can do what I want."

Buffy's patience was wearing thin and the fact that her sister had to look down to talk to her nowadays didn't help matters either.

"They are not babysitters, Dawnie. Kennedy is going to keep you company. And Giles is trying to figure out what's going on. All his books are here… all of his contacts. And you can't leave school. You know you can't leave school." Buffy added quietly, "And I don't want you to be alone."

Tears welled up in Dawn's eyes. "I need to go Buffy. What if…. "

Buffy's eyes crinkled in question. "What if what? What aren't you asking?"

"What if Mom's there?" Dawn finally said, barely above a whisper.

Buffy hadn't even thought of that. She had been so wrapped up in the thought of Sunnydale being whole again and possibly evil, she never stopped to think what else might be there. Would everything be the same as it was before they destroyed it? Well, before Spike totally destroyed it?

Buffy realized she hadn't even thought about what she might be going back to, she was thinking about what she had left. Would their house still be there? Would the Bronze still be there? What about Sunnydale High? She was so caught up in the memories of the Old Sunnydale. She had no clue what was waiting for her in the new one.

"Dawn, I don't know what's going on. Sunnydale shouldn't be there. We know Spi… we both saw it. I'm sure... I'm positive Mom is not there. I can feel it. You believe me, right? You know I would know, right?"

Sadness settled into both sisters' hearts, and Buffy suspected that Dawn knew what she told her was true; she just hated the fact that she had to leave her sister yet again.

"I believe you," Dawn said. With that, they hugged, neither one seeing the tears in the other's eyes.

XXXXX

"Hello? Earth to Buffy." Willow asked, nudging her best friend with her shoulder.

Buffy turned and looked at her. "Sorry, Will. Was thinking about Dawn and Sunnydale. All this just feels kind of weird. Having those dreams… I figured they were just memories or something, then Giles tells me Faith has been having them too."

"Kind of strange, huh? What time is Faith meeting us there anyway?" Willow asked.

"She should get there around the same time as us. She's driving in." Then catching Will's wide-eyed look. "Angel gave her a car," Buffy added grinning.

"I wish Angel would give me a car," Willow said smiling. She turned and looked out the airplane window. "Never thought I'd be taking a plane back to Sunnydale airport." She shivered. "Especially after what happened the last time I landed there."

"Ew! Gnarl!" Buffy shuddered at the memory.

"Someone mention snackage?" Xander said, sitting down next to Willow. "Got tired of waiting so I went and got some myself." With that he unleashed armfuls of snacks he had swiped from the flight attendant's cart. Small packets of peanuts and pretzels spread out over both Buffy's and Willow's tray tables. "Oooh peanuts!" he exclaimed, snatching a pack from Buffy's tray.

"Xander," Willow said. "We had dinner like an hour ago. How can your stomach be all like… GRRRR … grumbly?"

"Do you know how many time zones I've been through in the last three days?" Xander asked.

Willow held up two fingers. "Two time zones. There wasn't one when you left Africa and came to Italy and now the one in California. That would be two Xander," she said emphasizing the two fingers she was holding up.

Xander looked at Buffy. "Smart women. I hate smart women."

Buffy and Willow exchanged glances and giggled.

XXXXX

Neither one of them spoke much. Faith figured Spike was too busy thinking about Buffy, not that she could blame him.

They had a thing. He had loved her. No one had to tell Faith that when you compared sex to love, love usually won, especially when it came to Buffy. Not so much for Faith though. It never seemed to work that way for her.

As soon as she told Spike about Buffy, Faith knew it was a matter of time before she lost him. He didn't come out and say it. He didn't need to. She didn't care. She really didn't. It was just sex.

She kept repeating it to herself as if it was her mantra.

That was the long and short of it. Wasn't it? They had sex. Granted, really, really great sex, probably the best sex she had ever had, but in the end they were friends that slept together.

Wasn't the first time and it wasn't going to be the last. Well, with Spike it probably was the last time. She figured that whatever Buffy and he had going would pick up again once they saw each other. Buffy getting all weird when she finds out her vampire is still alive.

Spike had mentioned briefly back in Sunnydale, in the days of the First Evil and Caleb, that she would be surprised with the changes in Buffy. Now she was even more curious about what that meant. Maybe the two of them could compare notes.

"That'll happen," Faith thought rolling her eyes. She forced her thoughts back to the road.

She told Spike he could drive; she wasn't much in the mood. Looked like it was a good decision too, since they made it to the New Sunnydale in less than two hours. Not hard to do when the speedometer in the car never dropped below ninety.

Faith knew they were there before she even saw the 'Welcome to Sunnydale' sign.

"Had to see it to believe it," Spike said, pulling the car off the side of the road and parking. He looked at Faith. "Maybe I should run the sign down for old times sake."

"Huh?"

"Not important pet," he said looking back towards the sign. "I don't bloody believe it's here."

"The sign or the town," she asked not wanting an answer. She couldn't believe it either.

Sunnydale was the same. It looked exactly the same. Faith opened the car door and started to get out. The apprehension and anxiety she had been feeling was so much stronger here. She realized she couldn't get out of the car. She was frozen in her seat.

Spike ran to help her. Concern showing on his face. "You okay?"

She looked at him. "Can you say magnification? Damn!"

Spike took her hand and helped her out. She hesitated at first, and then realized she'd needed to deal. She had a feeling she'd be here a while.

Spike didn't let go of her hand as they made their way to the 'Welcome to Sunnydale' sign. Faith reached out to touch it. "Needed to make sure. You know, make sure it's real. Not some kind of illusion."

"It's real all right," Spike said kicking it. They both watched it vibrate as it scattered road dust into the air; kept watching as the dust disappeared into the night sky.

"We're supposed to meet them at the Bronze," Faith said, turning to look at him.

"When?" Spike asked.

"Their flight lands in less than an hour. Figured that'd put them at the Bronze around midnight." She looked at Spike. "Are you ready for this?"

"Ready as I'll ever be."

XXXXX

Faith ended up waiting alone at the Bronze. Spike figured it wasn't a good idea to spring his resurrection on the lot of them so soon. It was probably something he should work up to, although neither one of them knew exactly how he should do it.

He told Faith that he'd wait for her back at this old crypt; they both assumed it was still there. If and when Faith could break away from the group, she'd meet him there.

"Are you sure about this?" he asked, dropping her off in front of the Bronze.

She turned and looked at him. "Yep, I'll go alone. Find out what I can and meet you later," she said reassuringly.

Faith wasn't exactly sure who she was trying to reassure at the moment.

"Will you be okay … " Spike paused. "Will you be okay coming back on your own?"

She knew he was concerned about her and that made her uncomfortable, especially since there were back in Sunnydale. Too many memories here. Faith was beginning to think that hate wouldn't be too strong of a word when thinking about this place.

"I'll be fine. I'll be with the gang, remember?" Faith smiled at him and leaned in to give him a quick peck on the lips. Spike wouldn't let her get away that easily. He grabbed her and kissed her hard and quick.

Faith noticed that he didn't drive away until she was inside the door.

The Bronze was packed. She was still amazed. The last time she had been here was with the Potentials. She had taken a drink away from Amanda.

Amanda. It seemed like a lifetime ago. The turned-evil-cops were after her. What started out as fun, turned into a pretty shitty night She basically got the crap beat out of her. The Potentials had come to her rescue, and B ended up punching her in the face. Come to think of it, Spike kind of knocked her around a bit the next day too.

"Now THAT was fun," Faith mumbled under her breath. She didn't notice that she was no longer alone at the table.

"Faith."

"B," Faith said standing up. "And the gang."

They were pretty much the same as she had remembered. She still wasn't used to the eye patch on Xander. It just wigged her out. No matter what happened, how much time went by or how hard you tried to forget, one look at Xander could bring all the memories back. "How's tricks?" she asked.

Willow and Xander sat down; Buffy hesitated momentarily and then joined them.

"Still gay," Willow said.

"Good to know," Faith said looking at Buffy. "I think."

Buffy smiled awkwardly. Faith could tell she still felt uncomfortable around her. Faith really didn't know for sure where it was coming from. Faith thought she had proven herself at the end. Buffy knew that, she needed to let it go. They both were fighting on the same side these days.

Xander must have sensed the awkwardness. "Still waiting for that party in my eye socket."

Faith eyebrows crinkled. "Yo! Dude!"

The group caught up casually on what had been happening. Faith had to leave part of the bloodletting ritual story out. She didn't want to mention Spike's role accidentally. A couple times she almost slipped, but she had managed to make it through, secret still intact.

"So Angel's good?" Buffy asked.

"As good as you can get... working for evil and all." Faith supplied.

"And he gives away shiny new cars. I should've been nicer to him," Xander added as an afterthought.

Faith sensed a change in Buffy. It was easy to recognize. It was Buffy's 'time to get serious' look. Xander and Willow noticed too. They all stopped talking and at looked at Buffy.

"Okay. Guess it's time we get down to business," Buffy said.

Faith said, "Where do we start?"

XXXXX

Faith, Xander and Willow knew the basics of what was going on, but no one knew the guts.

Buffy had saved that for when they all were together. She really didn't want to repeat herself since it was going to be hard enough the first time around. Giles really didn't know much yet and she had to be the one to tell them that.

"What started all this?" Faith asked.

"That would be the question," Buffy said. "I guess it started a month or so ago. Giles' sources, mostly the coven in England," she glanced at Willow, "felt like something was brewing…" Buffy quickly added, "Um… something was up in the Hellmouth."

Willow suddenly chimed in. "Ooooh Witch Pun... Coven... Brewing … I get it." She broke off, realizing everyone was looking at her. "Sorry."

Buffy smiled and continued. "They sensed a power. They weren't sure if it was evil, just a 'power', so they tried to figure out what it was. They couldn't find anything on it so Giles brought in the seers."

Buffy had everyone's undivided attention.

"They didn't _see_ anything." Then sensing their confusion, added, "It's like a huge veil is covering Sunnydale. Giles didn't want us coming here until he had a good idea what was going on. He's tried witches, mages, anything he could think of. Nothing worked. He's been researching prophecies, looking at spells, anything to find out why Sunnydale came back, possibly hellmouth and all."

"So basically we don't know jack," Faith added.

"Hey, we know plenty of Jacks," Xander said. "Jack and the Beanstalk, that cheese whose name is something Jack, Jack and Jill, and don't forget my all time favorite Jack..."

"Thinking you can stop right there," Faith interrupted.

"Good plan," Buffy added backing her up with a smile.

"So what are we supposed to do while we're here, Buffy?" Willow asked.

"Basically a recon mission. We split up. We look around and report back. Not much we can do until we have more. I don't want anyone out alone until we know though." Buffy hated the idea of splitting her group up but she knew she had no choice.

"Xander, you go with Faith. Check out the west side of town. Willow and I will check out the east side." Buffy paused. "We meet at my house in exactly two hours." Buffy checked her watch. "That would be 3:00. Will and I should know if the house is safe by then."

"And if it's not?" Xander asked.

"You'll know it before you make it to the front door," Buffy told him.

She turned to Faith. "I'm not talking patrolling. Strictly recon and that's it. Don't go into anything. No winery. No High School. Nothing. We just look around and see if we spot anything unusual, well, unusual by Sunnydale standards. We need to keep this tight. Got it?"

"Yep," Faith agreed.

"So, Faith," Xander said as they were walking out of the Bronze. "We won't be partaking in any bondage or sexual choking rituals this time will we?"

"Xander!" Willow exclaimed.

"What?"

"Don't worry, Xander… you're not my type." Faith teased punching him lightly on the arm.

"Does 'Ow' mean anything to anyone?" Xander asked rubbing where she had hit him.

XXXXX


	4. Back to the Beginning a Sequel to Reyal'...

Buffy was back in Sunnydale.

She made sure her stake was tucked securely in her jeans, then she and Willow headed out.

Buffy wouldn't use the word patrolling, because that's not what they were doing. They were _looking around_; trying to see if they could find anything unusual – which in itself was an ironic statement.

Unusual and Sunnydale were usually synonymous.

"We won't get much done in a couple of hours," Willow said quietly. "I'm sorry, Buffy. I just don't see the point."

Buffy stopped and looked at Willow. "I don't know what else we can do. We have nothing. Figured if there was something to find, this would be the way to do it."

Willow nodded and they continued walking, both woman chatting quietly and taking in their surroundings.

Buffy figured they had time to check a few more streets, but then they needed to head to her house. She wanted to make sure they had ample time to check it out before Faith and Xander got there.

She was so caught up in her thoughts she didn't realize that Willow had stopped suddenly. "What is it Will?" she asked.

"Unusual like _that_?"

Buffy followed Willow's gaze. "You have got to be kidding me."

Sunnydale High School; the Old Sunnydale High School.

"It looks like it did before graduation; before the Mayor's attempted ascension and before it went boom," Buffy said. "I remember… Fire Bad, Tree Pretty." She looked at Willow. "Angel leaving."

"How can it be standing there?"

Buffy walked closer to the school, stopping on the sidewalk that ran along the front. "I don't know."

"What do you think it means?" Willow asked.

"I have no idea. We'll ask Giles. Maybe he'll be able to make sense out of it."

"Buffy do you think that the library is the same?"

Buffy knew where the question was leading. "Research?"

"That's what I was thinking. If Giles' stuff is here too, we may be able to help out, double up the researching, or maybe he could even come here."

"We'll come back tomorrow with the others and see what's up."

XXXXX

On the surface Faith appeared calm. Inside she was going crazy.

She had tuned out Xander's incessant babbling an hour into their recon mission. She knew it wasn't his fault; she just didn't like the way she was feeling and she didn't want to take her frustration out on him accidentally.

Her trepidation alone was enough to have her feeling on edge. That added to seeing the perfection of Buffy again was all she needed. She finally couldn't take it anymore.

"Are you done now?"

"What? Xander asked. "I'm nervous. When I'm nervous, I talk."

"You must be really, really fuckin' nervous then."

They had covered pretty much all they could in the two-hour time allotment. They hadn't found anything remotely unusual. Faith was starting to think that maybe it wasn't such a big deal. Sunnydale was back. So what. Not like it was any worse then it was before it fell into a hole in the ground. They hadn't even stumbled across any vamps. Maybe the Hellmouth was closed after all.

If that was the case, then what was with all the uneasiness?

"Okay, this is pointless," Faith said. "What time is it?"

Xander glanced at his watch. "We have a half an hour."

"Close enough for me," Faith said, turning around and walking back the way they had come.

Xander sped up to catch her. "What are you doing?"

"Going back to B's. There isn't shit here. Maybe she and Willow had better luck than we did."

"We still have a half an hour."

"And if we walk really, really slow, we'll get there exactly on time."

He didn't bother arguing with her.

Walking back to Buffy's all Faith could think about was Spike. She knew where he was and she had been tempted on more then one occasion to take off and go to him. But no matter how much Xander was annoying her, she wasn't going to leave him alone. It wouldn't be the right thing to do and if Faith was about anything nowadays, she was about 'doing the right thing'.

Sometimes she thought that the going back to doing the wrong thing would be a hell of a lot easier.

They turned down Revello Drive and headed towards the Summers' house. Faith took in her surroundings and didn't find anything that seemed off. She had done her best to place her fears on the backburner and so far, that's where they were staying.

"Doesn't look any different does it?" Xander asked.

"No it doesn't. There's B's house. Light's on and everything."

"Wonder who's home?" Xander asked pensively.

"About to find out."

XXXXX

Besides the high school the only thing that Buffy and Willow found unusual was the lack of demons. The didn't find any. They would run into people occasionally milling about, but nothing evil. No one was afraid, and they were basically calm.

Buffy didn't need to take her stake out, not once.

Now they were headed back to 1630 Revello Drive.

"You okay Buffy?" Willow asked.

Buffy didn't answer at first. She was a bundle raw nerves. She knew her house was on the next block and the only thing she could think of was Dawn's question, "What if Mom's there?"

She also knew that Willow was waiting for an answer.

Buffy told her friend the first thing that sprang to mind. "I don't know, ask me again once we get to my house."

Buffy walked up to her front door, indicating for Willow to stay behind. Taking one last glance over her shoulder, she opened the door.

No body was home. She still felt nervous, but the feeling didn't intensify once she was inside, she figured that was a good thing.

She went from room to room, starting with the basement, and ending up in her very own bedroom. Everything was the way it used to be, less the damage that was done after the Potentials arrived.

Her room was her room. Dawn's room was Dawn's room and their mother's room was the way Willow and Tara had it.

Buffy was more confused than ever. She walked out the front door, "It's okay, Will."

Willow came out from behind the tree in the front yard. "Anything?" she asked.

"Nope," Buffy said relieved. "Mom's not here, and by the looks of it she won't be coming back anytime soon."

Willow met up with Buffy in the house. Between the two of them they couldn't find anything amiss. There was food in the fridge, cans and cereal in the cupboard and fresh fruit on the counter.

"I think I would be less nervous if we found something bad," Willow said sitting down at the kitchen table.

"I was thinking the same thing," Buffy agreed. She sat down with Willow and leaned her chin on her hand. "I just don't get it. Why bring Sunnydale back? Why would anyone want to? Okay, maybe big evil dudes would want to, but why bring it back and then leave it so… pristine? There isn't anything bad here."

Buffy didn't want to let Willow know about the apprehension she had felt before the plane even landed, let alone how much it had intensified since then. The unbridled fear was there and Buffy couldn't see any reason for it.

Not to mention her newly acquired fear of the dark.

XXXXX

"B said we'd know before we made it up to the front door," Faith said, not bothering to knock and walking right in.

"Maybe we should knock?" Xander said, following right behind her. "Or not."

"Yo, B. You here?" Faith called out.

"We're in the kitchen," Buffy responded.

"Anything?" Buffy asked as Faith and Xander came into the kitchen.

"Not a thing," Faith supplied. "No vamps. No nothing. You?" Faith asked, pulling out a chair, turning it around, and straddling the back.

"Only thing we found out of the usual was the high school - the old one…" Buffy paused. "Pre-Mayor Sunnydale High."

"Hellmouth still there?"

"Didn't take it that far," Buffy said, going to the fridge. After grabbing something to drink, she sat back down. "That might be something we do during the day. Willow and I figured we'd go back and check out the library – see if all of Giles' stuff is there. Kind of hard to see if the Hellmouth is there without ripping up the floor."

"We need to call Giles, too," Willow added.

"We do don't we?" Buffy asked. "I guess now is as good of a time as any." She set down her drink and went to the phone.

After what felt like forever, Giles finally answered the phone.

Buffy spoke to him briefly, the discouragement showing on her face. Once she hung up, she reported back to the others. "Giles still doesn't have anything. Having the Old Sunnydale High School here should tell him something, but right now, it doesn't. He's really frustrated, us not having much to tell him didn't help either."

"So what are we going to do now?" Xander asked.

"Not much we can do. I suggest we all stay here, get a good night's sleep, and start fresh in the morning." Buffy asked looking around to see if everyone was in agreement.

"I'm glad to be back and all," Faith said slowly getting up and walking towards the backdoor. "But I'm not one for PJ parties, so I'm going to take off. I'll meet you back here in the morning." With that she was gone.

"Did that surprise anyone?" Xander asked.

"No," Willow added. "Faith's not exactly a joiner. Do you think she'll be okay, Buffy?"

"She's Faith."

XXXXX

Faith didn't stop until she got to the crypt door. She didn't bother knocking.

She stormed across directly to where he slept. She didn't wait for him to wake. She was on him before he could move. She whipped down the covers.

He was naked. That didn't surprise her.

Spike was awake now, still saying nothing, but watching her intently. Faith wasn't sure if it was out of surprise or curiosity. It didn't matter to her; she was doing what she wanted to do, what she had been thinking about ever since she left the Bronze.

She grabbed Spike's legs and yanked him down to the foot of the bed, his arms flying out, pillows landing on the cold-hard floor; his hips stopping where his feet had been just moments before.

Faith not wasting any time, took him fully into her mouth.

Spike tried to sit up, but she pushed him back down. She didn't want him moving; she didn't want him talking; she didn't want him questioning. She just wanted him to lie there, let her do what she wanted to do.

"Bloody hell," he moaned. Spike was squirming so much Faith had a hard time keeping him still. It didn't matter; she had almost accomplished what she had set out to do.

Knowing he was close, Faith stopped, her mouth and her hand switching places momentarily, and then she stopped altogether

Spike looked at her as she grinned naughtily, pulled up her shirt and unfastened her jeans.

Taking advantage of her Slayer speed, Faith was up and on him faster then he had expected, riding him harder then she ever had before.

Faith could tell by the way he was moving under her that he was trying to reposition himself, but she wouldn't let him.

She didn't realize it until it was too late, but somehow Spike had managed to maneuver his hands under her legs, and with one fast lifting motion she was no longer on top. He was.

"No!" she cried out.

"Oh, yes," he said, the husky tone of arousal now evident in his voice.

Spike quickly got up on his knees, grabbing her in the process. He pulled her to him, lifting her up, and back on. They made their way to the edge of the bed so Spike could use the floor for support, all the while locked in a passionate kiss.

Faith was trying to regain the upper hand, but Spike would have nothing of it. They were fighting for control. For domination.

The more they fought. The more turned on they both got.

Spike stood, still holding onto Faith. He turned around and dropped her onto the bed. He withdrew for a split second, and then pushed in as deeply as he could, speeding up as he went, going a little deeper each time.

It didn't take long for either of them after that.

XXXXX

"You're going back to L.A.," Faith said matter-of-factly, getting out of bed to get dressed.

"What?" Spike asked.

"You're leaving…. Take the car. I don't care. You just need to get out of Sunnydale," she told him, not giving him the consideration of actually looking at him as she spoke.

"And why would I do that?" he asked, getting out of bed and throwing on a pair of jeans that were lying nearby. "Why in bloody hell would I be going back to L.A. at this very moment Faith? Enlighten me with your wisdom."

Faith tried to ignore the sarcasm that was in his voice. She had too many reasons why Spike couldn't stay here and she wasn't about to elaborate on any of them. "Because I said so."

Spike laughed humorlessly. "Oh, so now you're telling me what to do? Is that what's happening here?"

She finally looked at him. "Look, this is too distracting for me. The entire time I was with… them. All I could think about was you and," she pointed to the bed, "that."

Spike eyed her curiously.

"We don't even know what's going on yet. There's nothing weird. There's nothing dangerous. The high school is back. Besides that we got nothing, nada, zip. So what's the point in you staying?" Then she added rather offhand, "Besides you getting laid."

Spike moved so quickly Faith didn't know he was on her until it was too late. He grabbed her by the shoulders and slammed her against the wall. "Do you think that's all there is here? Bleedin' sex? You have so much to learn about men. About _me_, Faith."

She loosened herself from his grip, ducking under his arm, and stomping away from him. "Oh, and you're going to be the one to teach me? Is that what you're trying to tell me, Spike. The all-knowing vampire is now going to teach me about men. That's okay, but I think I know enough already – I'll pass."

Spike sighed loudly and went and sat down in his chair. "Why do you make this so hard all the time?"

Faith was taken aback, not knowing how to respond. "What are you talking about?"

"This," Spike said motioning with his arms. "Here we are, getting along famously. Then outta bloody nowhere you're pushing me, telling me to leave, closing yourself off – again. Why can't you just admit to yourself that we have a good thing going and accept that? Why do you make it so bloody difficult?"

Faith was in Hell.

When had all these emotions come into it? They were fucking. Plain and simple, damn it! Why did he need an explanation for everything? They had fun and now she was done. Admittedly he was a friend she supposed. Lord knows she didn't have tons of experience with those. But still... she said leave. He should leave now, not talk about it, not discuss it. What she said goes. Why didn't he see that?

"I'm not leaving."

Confusion creased her brows. "What do you mean you're not leaving? Yes you are."

"I'm not leaving… Pretty simple, innit? I'm not going anywhere and you better get used to 'aving me around."

Faith blurted the first thing that came to mind. "You stay, I'll tell Buffy you're here."

Spike laughed. "You wouldn't dare."

"Try me."

Spike crossed his arms in front of him. "Tell her. Save me from doing it."

He was calling her on it? How much more infuriating could one man be? What in the hell was she going to do now? She hadn't meant it when she said she'd tell B. Now she wasn't so sure. Only thing she did know what all this arguing was giving her a headache.

"God! You are pissing me off. Why can't you just make this all easier on everyone and go?" Faith said, walking over to where he was sitting.

"On everyone or just you?" Spike asked, unfolding his arms and taking Faith's hands in his.

She resisted at first, but she knew her fight was gone, at least for the moment. It was almost sunup and she hadn't gotten any sleep.

Spike motioned for her to sit on his lap and Faith sat. "Are we done now?" he asked.

Faith didn't say anything, she just laid her head on his shoulder.

They stayed that way for the next hour.

XXXXX

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Page 10 of 10


	5. Back to the Beginning a Sequel to Reyal'...

Buffy gave up trying to sleep.

The first hour all she did was toss and turn; the second hour she kept thinking she heard people arguing; the third hour she dreamed. It was about Angel and Spike; Xander and Willow; Giles and her mom; Dawn and Ms. Calendar. She even dreamt about The Master and The Mayor. It was like every memory she had involving Sunnydale was rushing back to her all at once.

Enough was enough. She figured she might as well get up and take a shower. Problem was, she felt even more exhausted now than she did before she had gone to bed.

They had hidden their bags in the alley outside The Bronze. "Good plan," she thought as she went through her closet and dresser drawers. They were all full of her clothes. She grabbed a pair of jeans and a baby blue short-sleeved sweater and headed for the shower.

She ran into Xander in the hall. "Hey Buff. How'd you sleep?" he eyed the dark circles under her eyes.

"I didn't. You?"

"Not a wink," he said. "Willow didn't either. Maybe Faith had the right idea?"

Buffy glared at him. She couldn't help it.

"Or not."

"I'll be down in a few."

"Alrighty then," Xander mumbled, heading toward the kitchen.

Willow had beaten him there.

"Breakfast?" he asked.

"Figured I'd make something. Don't know how long a day it's going to be," she said, flipping a pancake. "Breakfast is the most important meal of the day," she said with added excitement.

"Like lunch and dinner aren't important? And who could forget the all important snacks," Xander said, reaching for a pancake that was cooling on a plate.

Willow slapped his hand playfully. "Xander Harris! You can wait for Buffy."

"Humph! She probably won't even eat," he said sitting down. "Have you seen her this morning? She's not looking too good."

"I resemble that remark," Buffy said, coming into the kitchen. "Clean now, but still very tired." She perked up, realizing what Willow was cooking. "Ooooh pancakes!"

"Ha! And you said she wouldn't eat any," Willow added triumphantly.

"Can't sleep. Figured I'd eat instead," Buffy said smiling. "Any word on Faith?" she asked looking at them both.

"Nope," Xander said. "She said she'd see us in the morning." Looking at the clock. "That leaves her exactly two hours."

XXXXX

Faith woke with a start. The first thing she noticed was the horrendous kink in her neck. She rolled her head side-to-side trying to work it out. The second thing she noticed was how uncomfortable she was. Wonderful, her headache was still there too. She was still sitting on Spike's lap and he was watching her closely.

Everything came rushing back to her. She rubbed her eyes so hard she saw stars. But she didn't care. She just wanted to wipe all the memories from her mind.

She wasn't surprised at how fast she flew from his lap.

"How long was I out?" she asked looking around. She wasn't feeling very well rested. Faith knew it couldn't have been long. She felt even more tired now. She was starting to wish she hadn't slept at all, especially on Spike's lap, especially after their argument. It made it all that much more personal – and that's the last thing she wanted.

"'Spect it wasn't even an hour," he said stretching himself out.

Faith raised her hands above her head and laced her fingers together. She twisted side to side, rolling her neck and shoulders, trying to relax, trying to work out the kinks.

"Let me help you," Spike said coming towards her.

Faith took a step back shaking her head. "No, I'm fine."

He didn't listen to her. Spike turned her around and slowly began rubbing, working the knots out of her shoulders and her neck.

She tried not to enjoy it, but it just felt too damn good. Like everything did with him. Without realizing it, she began to into him. She could feel him against the curve of her back. It couldn't have felt more natural.

Spike whispered in her ear, "Is that better?"

Faith pulled away from him. "I gotta go… supposed to be at B's," she said turning towards the door.

"Faith," Spike said.

"Stay… just... let's not talk anymore. I gotta go." She didn't wait for a response.

XXXXX

Faith made sure to grab her bag out of the Viper before heading off to Buffy's. She was hungry and she needed a shower. She was hoping there would be time for both.

"Wow! Don't you look chipper this morning?" Xander said as Faith came in the back door.

"I think it's unanimous," Buffy said. "We all look worse than we did last night."

"Good morning to you too," Faith said, plopping down on a stool and grabbing a pancake.

"Okay, why doesn't she get yelled at?" Xander asked.

"What did I miss?" Faith said catching the look Willow gave him.

"You're just lucky you didn't get your hand slapped by a certain cook," Xander provided.

Faith still confused but lacking interest, decided to change the subject. "I know we are all for getting lots done in the brightness of day," she paused to take another bite of pancake," but I so need to take a shower and change my clothes. Do you mind B? Won't take me more than fifteen."

Buffy motioned for the door. "Go ahead. We're not sure what we're doing yet anyway."

"Perfect!" Faith exclaimed, grabbing her bag and yet another pancake before heading out.

XXXXX

Make that twenty, Faith thought as the hot water poured over her aching body.

She was exhausted physically and emotionally. And now she got to spend the day with the 'Buffy The Perfect' and her adoring friends. Part of her wished she could go off on her own, but she knew where she would end up. And that was a bad idea – he would want to talk some more. "Get over it already," she muttered as she turned off the shower.

She quickly dressed, and towel dried her hair. Not knowing where to leave her stuff, she decided to toss it down the hallway, at the top of the stairs. Hopefully B wouldn't mind. She ran down, meeting up with the others in the living room. Faith casually dropped down into a chair and eyed Buffy as she paced around the room. She glanced over to Xander and Willow who were on the couch.

"What did I miss?" she asked.

"Not much of anything," Buffy said. "Yesterday going to the high school, the library, seemed to be the thing to do. Today, it's not looking all that great."

"And that would be bad why?" Faith asked.

"We've got nada," Xander added. "Go there and do what? Read a book or two?"

"We can't research anything because there's nothing to research," Willow said. "We have no demons, no spells, nothing strange."

"How about hellmouth's coming back once it's gone bye-bye?" Faith asked. "Sounds strange to me."

"Giles already looked that up," Buffy said. "Sunnydale was the first hellmouth to be closed as far as he can tell. There's nothing to compare it to."

Buffy finally sat down on the arm of the couch closest to Willow. "We have the mystery amulet that Wolfram and Hart gave Angel. Angel gave me what he had on it – which wasn't much and," Buffy paused finding it difficult to go on, "The sheer force of its power was enough to close the hellmouth. At the time we thought for good. Nothing's different besides Sunnydale being back, and possibly the hellmouth too. If the First was back, or Caleb, or the Bringers, if anything tied to that day was here we might have something to go on, but right now we don't."

"You're not wrong pet. It's all true. But I'm back. As for the why I couldn't tell you."

Spike's words echoed in Faith's head. Could he have something to do with this? No. That didn't make any sense. But what if? Could Sunnydale have come back the same time as Spike?

"Hey B," Faith interrupted, "do we know when Sunnydale came back? How long has it been here? I mean exactly?"

"It hit Giles' radar about a week ago, two at the most why?" Buffy asked.

"No reason." Faith tried not to show her relief. "Just grabbing at anything." So it didn't have anything to do with Spike. Then what in the hell did it have to do with? "Does anyone else find this pointless and frustrating or is it just me?"

Xander raised his hand. Willow nodded her hand slightly. Buffy just sighed.

"Good to know," Faith said leaning back in the chair.

"I suppose we could do more recon today," Buffy said, looking for confirmation from the group.

"Recon what?" Faith asked. "We basically scoured the entire town last night. I didn't see anything this morning on my way over here. What are we supposed to do? Hang out and wait for something to happen?"

"What do you suggest, Faith? I'm open to anything." Buffy jumped to her feet. "If you have a better idea I'd be more than happy to hear it."

"Whoa! B," Faith said, immediately on the defensive. She rose, drawing on her very slight height advantage. "Not a personal thing. Okay?"

"This isn't going to get ugly again, is it?" Xander whispered to Willow.

Both Slayers glared at him.

"Nope, not at all. No uglies here," Willow volunteered.

"Why don't we go back to the Bronze and get our bags?" Willow suggested. "We left them there last night. That's someplace to start, right?"

"We could always go cruising around in Faith's car," Xander said. "Maybe she'd even let us take turns driving it."

Buffy's eyebrows registered confusion. "That's right. Faith has a car. That could make things speedier. Can you drive us to the Bronze?"

"I didn't drive it. I… I walked here." Faith said, averting her eyes.

"Walked here? Where did you stay last night anyway?"

"I get by, B. Figured you knew that by now."

XXXXX

Buffy was in luck. Her mom's car was still in the garage. She found the keys where her mother had always left them. They didn't need Faith's mystery car.

Humph, maybe Angel hadn't even given her a car.

They made their way to the Bronze and grabbed their bags, which appeared to be undisturbed. That in itself should've been surprising, but it wasn't. Nothing surprised her in the new and improved Sunnydale anymore.

Once they had them loaded in the car, Buffy made a decision. "We're sticking to yesterday's plan; we're going to the high school."

Which is were they went every day for the next few weeks, looking through any book that had a reference to the Sunnydale Hellmouth in it or any hellmouth for that matter.

"This is crap!" Faith yelled, tossing yet another volume across the table. "We have been at this for weeks and we haven't found anything. How much longer are we going to waste our time?" she asked, shoving her chair back, mindless of the clatter it made as it fell to the hard floor. "We do this every day and find nothing. We patrol every night and, looky there - we find nothing. Enough is enough already."

"Do you ever stop complaining?" Xander asked.

"Do you ever stop asking stupid questions?" she shot back.

"Enough," Buffy said, "I know we're no further along today than we were when we got here. I'm open to suggestions. If anyone has any other ideas, please tell me."

"A spell," Willow said. She looked around cautiously to see what everyone's reaction would be.

"We're listening," Faith said.

"A type of Reveal Spell," Willow continued. "We all know what we see. Figured it was time to find out what we don't."

Recognition flashed across Buffy's face. "The curtain spell. You're talking about the same one we used with Dawn?"

"Yes," Willow said. "'_Tirer La Couture – _Pull the Curtain BackIf Sunnydale is under some sort of spell that would be one way to see it."

Faith picked up her chair and sat back down. Willow's idea had some possibilities.

"Who would do it?" Buffy asked.

"I think we all could. Maybe we'd all see different things," Willow suggested. "It wasn't too dangerous when you did it. You knew where you were, you just saw other things too."

"Whoa." Faith was all for spells, as long as they didn't involve her. "I'm not into the mojo. If that's something we need to do, fine. But everyone? Doesn't sound like a good idea to me. Someone will need to be in the here and now… if you catch my meaning. Who knows what we might stumble across?"

"Faith has a point. We'll need to get our supplies and someone will need to oversee. We won't be able to set everything up when we're all sitting in a circle," Buffy said.

"Who's we?" Faith asked.

"Who do you think?"

"I knew you were going to say that."

Buffy glanced at her watch. "It's almost 9:00. I say we skip patrolling tonight, get something to eat, a good night's sleep and hit the Magic Box in the morning for our supplies."

"Where are we going to do it?" Xander asked.

"Figured here was as good a place as any," Buffy said. "If the hellmouth is still here," tapping her foot on the library floor, "this might be the way we find out."

"I'm going to look up what we need," Willow said.

"I'll come with," Xander said getting up and following her.

Faith leaned back in her chair, lacing her fingers behind her head. "You are so in your glory right now aren't you?"

"What?" Buffy asked, obviously confused.

"You're back in charge. Giving out your orders. Having everyone run around and do what you tell them to do," Faith said. "You live for this shit."

"You couldn't be more wrong," Buffy said coolly.

"Please! This is who you are. You have your own little Scooby Gang, your perfect life, your little villa in Italy, or whatever it is you're living in nowadays and everyone respects you, listens to you – no questions asked – well usually no questions asked. The past few months you've probably been bored as hell. Normal life and all - where's the fun in that? And now you have your beloved Sunnydale back. It couldn't be anymore perfect."

Buffy laughed humorlessly. "My perfect life? Is that what you call this? Let me clarify Faith because you're a little confused. Perfect as in my mom died? Wait, no perfect in the fact that I died not once but twice? Or perfect as in any relationship I have ever had ended up with that person leaving me or dying? No, that couldn't be it. How about everyone always looking to me for answers and me knowing, before I give them the answer that it could lead to someone dying? Wow! Yes, that's a perfect life. You are so right. What have I been thinking all this time?"

Buffy flew to where Faith was still sitting. She was glaring at her.

"But you on the other hand, you have never been responsible for anything. You come and go as you please. You're the Slayer, Faith. Remember? Reins turned over to you after Kendra died? But you didn't take over - you took off and left me in charge. You think I like this? I don't. Never have. I'm tired of being responsible for everything all the time. It was supposed to be different now, but it's not. So don't you dare sit there and tell me how perfect my life is when you have absolutely no idea how much it basically sucks, okay?"

Faith's chair hit the floor again but she didn't care. She hardly noticed. She stood up to face Buffy, jabbing her finger as she spoke, each jab getting closer to Buffy's face.

"You think I've been sitting on my ass, B? I came back or did you forget that part? I've been all over doing what slayers do. Slaying. I didn't take off and leave the country with basically every slayer there was. I don't recall you asking if I wanted to come with. You took all of them with you and left me here – alone. That was a perfect 'thanks'. Oh. I'm sorry. I never said 'you're welcome', did I?"

Buffy stopped glaring, her arms dropping to her sides. "I didn't think you wanted to come. You were with Robin." Her tone softened. "Figured you wanted to stay."

Faith wasn't sure how this entire exchange had gotten so out of control. She bent over and picked up the chair. "Wasn't the point. You didn't even bother asking."

They both sat back down, opposite sides of the table, neither having anything left to say; avoiding looking at each other.

"Sorry," Buffy said finally, her voice soft with understanding.

"Me too," Faith said even more quietly. "I guess we have some issues, huh?"

Buffy looked up at her and smiled. "Maybe a couple."

"Oil and water much?" Faith asked.

"We so need to get beyond this you know?" Buffy asked. "Grass is always greener. Both of our lives have sucked for different reasons. Neither one of us have it perfect. Just leave it at that?"

"Deal," Faith said extending her hand across the table.

Buffy took it and they shook. "Deal."

"What? No Slayer hugging?" Xander asked coming down the ladder. "I so thought there was going to be Slayer hugging."

"Wow, Xander," Faith said, "we usually save that stuff for when you're not around, but if you're feeling up to taking on both of us..."

"We could definitely schedule him in," Buffy said.

"What? Huh? Wait a minute..."

"I know this isn't nearly as exciting as what you three are talking about," Willow interrupted, waving her list in the air.

Buffy turned to Willow. "Sorry, Will."

"I got it. It's not much. Incense, some conjuring powders, candles, a few magic talismans and we're good."

"Will we need to double it since both B and I are going to do it?" Faith asked. "Is it like a recipe or something?"

"We'll make sure we get enough tomorrow. It'll be okay," Willow said.

"Okay, let's go before that weird principal shows up again." Xander said. "New principal - old school, now that makes sense - not."

"I'm just glad Giles called him. He bought the story about us being library aides until the real librarian showed up," Willow said. "I'm thinking our time here might be limited. And I'm not even taking into consideration the worry feeling I get when I think about why the new librarian hasn't shown up yet."

"Hopefully after tomorrow, it won't matter," Buffy said.

XXXXX


	6. Back to the Beginning Part 6 of 18

Faith crashed on Buffy's couch. Or tried to crash on Buffy's couch.

She hadn't been having much luck sleeping. Faith had been on the couch for weeks and she hadn't gone back to Spike's since the first night. She hadn't seen or talked to him since that first night either.

He was around though; he was keeping track of them. She knew he was pissed because she was avoiding him, but that wasn't why, Spike was making sure they were okay. That was just his way, which is fine and good… but stupid. If he kept it up it would only be a matter of time before B found out that he was here.

Everything felt unresolved to her and she just kept waiting for the axe to fall. Faith didn't know how long she'd need to stay in Sunnydale, but if that spell didn't work tomorrow she might be tempted to leave. So what if she didn't know why only she and B were having the dreams. They had spoken about it briefly and besides having Sunnydale in common, there wasn't much else, just flashes of what they knew and had remembered from the past. They so didn't need two slayers in a town where nothing ever happened.

Add that to the entire Spike mess and that was it… in a nutshell, Faith was going nuts.

If she dwelled on it too long she'd feel like shit. She knew deep down Spike didn't deserve to be ignored and Buffy didn't deserve to be lied to. Yes, an omission, but still technically a lie. Faith didn't know what else to do. This was all foreign territory to her. When it came to Spike, Faith wasn't sure if she was more afraid of what he would say, or what would come out of her mouth. Buffy! That was something entirely different. She didn't want to think about that at all. When the time came it was just going to be plain ugly.

Faith sighed and rolled over.

The rest of the gang had crashed hours ago. Faith had laid there and listened to them. She heard their footsteps, their murmurings and finally doors closing. A few creeks here and there, and then all was quiet. That was a while ago. And here she was, awake on the fucking couch.

If only she could turn her brain off it would be a lot quieter in her head.

"Grr." She rolled over again spotting the television. Maybe she'd turn that on? It could help her fall asleep; give her something else to focus on. Faith swung her legs off the couch and stretched her arms out in front of her; she glanced down briefly at her toenails and wondered when the last time she had painted them.

Brain stop already! She screamed inside her head. Now she was worrying about her damn toenails.

Tap 

Faith turned her head quickly.

Tap 

What was that? A knock? A soft knock? It was! And it was coming from the front door.

Tap 

There it was again. It was a definite knock, a soft one, but a knock nonetheless. There was no doubt in her mind that something, or someone was there.

He wouldn't dare!

Faith sprang off the couch and rushed for the door, opening it quickly, but quietly. "You cannot be that stup…." Her voice trailed off when she realized no one was there. She stepped out the front door, looking from side-to-side, nothing. The wind maybe?

"What's going on?"

Faith jumped. Buffy had come down the stairs and was now standing beside her. Faith hadn't even heard her. "Damn, B. Sneak much?" she asked, slamming the door shut out of total frustration.

"Sorry. Couldn't sleep, thought I heard something," she said yawning.

"Nothing there," Faith replied as she headed towards the kitchen, noticing that Buffy had followed her. "You too?" Faith asked, hiking herself up to sit on the counter and grabbing a cookie from the jar. "Cookie?" she asked Buffy.

Buffy sat at the table and shook her head. "This no sleeping thing is getting old. I'm so tired I don't know if I heard something or I just think I heard something. But hey! No sleep, no dreams, right?"

"The mojo thing is usually not for me," Faith said, breaking off a piece of cookie and shoving it into her mouth. "But at this rate I think I might just be looking forward to it."

"I know." Buffy sighed. "Too bad I wasn't thinking too clearly or we could've done something sooner. Willow went and came up with a plan. What kind of leader does that sound like to you?"

"I'm not an expert," Faith began, "but I'm thinking it sounds like a tired one."

Buffy smiled. "Look at us being all civil."

Faith laughed. "We're not at our best. Exhaustion and all."

Buffy stood up. "I guess I'll try again. Big spell day tomorrow. See you in the morning."

"Count on it."

Faith was in no hurry to go back to the couch. It's not like she'd sleep anyway, but she knew she should try. She jammed the rest of the cookie in her mouth, jumped off the counter and headed back towards the living room.

Tapping _again_.

She went to the couch and fumbled around looking for her shoes. "This is fucked," she mumbled quietly, not wanting to disturb Buffy again.

This time she walked quietly to the door and opened it slowly.

Spike.

"It was you before. I knew it," she whispered going outside and closing the door quietly. She made sure she kept her voice down. "Are you crazy. Buffy was just down here. She could've seen you - could've heard you. Waiting for a late night revelation or what?"

"Come with me," he said grabbing her arm and pulling her down the sidewalk. He didn't say anything until they were at the end of the block. Faith didn't bother asking him what was wrong. She had a pretty good idea what he was going to say.

"This may come as a surprise to you," he began, "but I'm not going to fight with you."

Faith crossed her arms in front of her.

"I know there is a hell of a lot going on with you lately. I know a lot of it is my fault. I'm going to try to help." Now this caught her attention. "I'm going to tell Buffy." He must have seen the shock that registered on her face. "I'm going to tell Buffy I'm back. If that doesn't prove something to you nothing will."

Faith turned abruptly and starting walking away. "You can't."

Spike caught up. "What do you mean I can't? I bloody well can and I'm bloody well going to."

Faith stopped and turned towards him. "If you're doing it for me, don't do it. It's not worth it."

"It's not worth it or you think you're not worth it?" he asked. "'Cause if that's what you're thinking, you're wrong."

"That's not it," she said stopping and looking at him. "The timing is off. Willow's doing a reveal spell tomorrow. Now is not the time to distract B and have her pissed off at me."

Spike studied her, apparently considering what she had just told him. "Okay. I'll be quiet… for now. Just stop avoiding me."

"I'm not avoiding you," she blurted. "Not like I can just leave and say, 'Hey guys, be back, going to see Spike.' And with all the Scooby Gang togetherness going on, forget it."

"You're away now aren't you?"

Faith smiled slowly.

XXXXX

"Where you been?" Xander asked.

Faith had just come in the front door and didn't really appreciate being on the receiving end of a face full of Xander Harris, so she didn't answer him.

"My lips moved, I think words came out."

"Went for a walk," she finally said.

"Should've taken Buffy with you. From what I could tell she didn't sleep at all last night."

Faith followed Xander into the kitchen, an uneasy feeling beginning to grow inside her. "She say anything?" she asked him.

"No," he said reaching for the coffee. "I just heard her moving around a lot. Just call me the 'No Sleep Guy'. Listening to her pace gave me something to do."

Faith was starting to think that there were way too many people awake last night.

"Hey," Willow said coming into the kitchen. Her eyes weren't all poofy and her hair was mussed. She wandered over to the counter to get herself a cup of coffee.

"Or not," Faith mumbled looking at her.

"Or not what?" Willow asked.

"By the looks of her I'd venture to guess that ole Willow slept like a baby," Xander said.

"She's probably the only one who did." Buffy added coming into the room. "I tried. But when I did I kept dreaming about all sorts of Sunnydale stuff." She grinned slightly. "I know I had to sleep a little bit because I thought I saw Spike."

"Who?" Xander asked.

Buffy turned towards Faith. "I dreamt I was looking out my window and there he was, walking down the street… actually, come to think of it he was with you." Faith turned hurriedly away and grabbed a coffee cup. "It was a dream wasn't it Faith?"

"That's a given," Faith replied, pouring coffee while she mentally scrambled for something to say.

"That's what I thought. So I came downstairs to see if you were still awake, and guess what? You weren't there." Buffy didn't touch her, but Faith knew she was close. "I saw you come home Faith. I was waiting for you."

Faith's shoulders visibly sagged. She heard both Xander and Willow's sharp intake of breath almost in unison. Without turning around Faith asked Buffy, "What do you think you know?"

"That's the funny thing. What I think I know and what I know I know are a little different," Buffy said. "What I know is that Spike couldn't be here. But what I think I know is that somehow Spike is here… and you've known all along."

Willow and Xander sat down at the kitchen table.

"What I haven't exactly figured out," Buffy continued, "is exactly what Spike it was. Has Spike magically appeared? Or is this a new Sunnydale version of him? You can clarify that for me can't you, Faith?"

For a split second Faith thought about fleeing. The side door was just behind her, with the great outdoors only a few steps away, but she knew that wouldn't work. There would be no way in hell Buffy would let her get that far. Faith would never even make it to the door.

"I'm not the one who's supposed to tell you."

"Tell me what Faith?"

Faith turned around. She saw the expectation on Buffy's face and the look of total shock from both Xander and Willow. She realized she was still holding the coffee cup in her hand. Faith leaned on the counter, setting the coffee cup down.

"What do you want to know exactly, B?"

"I want to know what I saw, Faith."

Faith felt as though she could throw-up.

"Waiting Faith," Buffy pushed.

"It was Spike. The real Spike. No Sunnydale rip-off."

Buffy was visibly shaken. She turned away from Faith and stormed out of the room. Xander and Willow followed her out, barely acknowledging Faith, who stood there momentarily. Once again Faith did something she didn't want to do, she followed after them.

She found all three of them sitting in the living room.

Buffy and Willow were sitting on the couch. Willow held one of Buffy's hands, but wasn't saying anything. She probably knew there wasn't anything she could say to make Buffy feel any better at the moment... Faith was having the same problem herself.

Xander was sitting in one of the chairs, staring blankly. Faith could see how tightly his jaw was clenched. She wasn't sure if Xander was more pissed off at her deception or the fact that Spike was back. She guessed it really didn't matter what she thought anymore. She wished she were anywhere but here in this living room. The silence was over-whelming.

"I'm sorry," she finally said trying to break it.

Buffy glowered at her. "What exactly are you sorry for? Lying to me? Breaking the little trust I was beginning to have in you? Could you narrow it down a bit for me? I am beyond confused right now, Faith."

With that Faith knew that everything she and Buffy had built over the last few weeks was gone. Faith was once again an outsider. It was a feeling she was familiar with. It shouldn't surprise her. She should have expected it.

"I'll get my things," she said, turning to leave.

Faith heard Buffy before she felt her hands grasping her by the shoulders, spinning her around and punching her in the face. Buffy pulled her fist back and hit her again in the exact same spot. Faith stood there, feeling the blood start to trickle out of her nose, but she did nothing to stop it.

"Are you going to hit me again or can I go?"

Whatever feeling that had overcome Buffy must have passed. She said nothing, brushed past Faith and ran up the stairs.

Faith didn't move until she heard Buffy's bedroom door slam shut.

"How could you not say something?" Xander asked.

Faith looked at him. She saw the same question on Willow's face. Knowing she didn't have an answer that would satisfy either of them, she turned and walked out the front door, leaving more than just her things behind.

XXXXX


	7. Back to the Beginning a Sequel to Reyal'...

Spike was alive.

He was in Sunnydale.

He didn't tell her.

Buffy's mind kept looping through those three thoughts. The 'sitting on her bed and trying to sort stuff out' thing worked for an entire minute and a half. Buffy could feel how tense she was. If someone actually touched her right now, she was pretty sure she'd break into a million pieces.

Pacing… pacing was good.

Buffy began to pace around her room, wringing her hands at her sides, finding it impossible to focus on any one thought.

How could he come back and not tell her? Okay, thought focusing… not as hard as she thought it would be.

She glanced down at her knuckles. They were red from hitting Faith. A touch of Faith's blood on the back of her hand. Buffy quickly rubbed it off.

Buffy should feel guilty, but she didn't – she couldn't. Faith should've told her. What had she said? Something about it not being up to her?

Buffy didn't care and she pushed the thought from her mind. She knew if she dwelled on it long enough she would start to feel guilty.

At the moment she was too angry to feel guilty.

Buffy plopped back down on the bed. Pacing wasn't working. Ugh! Sitting wasn't working… she fell backwards… lying down wasn't all that great either.

She never heard the front door close, but she knew Faith was gone. Xander and Willow were talking quietly now, although Buffy couldn't focus in on what they were saying. She didn't even really try to. At this point she really didn't care.

Spike was alive.

He was in Sunnydale.

He didn't tell her.

XXXXX

"What should we do?" Xander asked.

Willow looked around uncertainly, her glance resting on the stairs. "I don't know."

"I guess we won't be going to the Magic Box today, huh?"

"I guess not."

Willow knew they were having a hard time dealing with what had happened. Everything had changed so fast. Sunnydale, Buffy and Faith, and now Spike being back. What did it all mean?

"I wonder how long he's been back," she finally asked.

Xander said, "I wonder who else knows."

"Besides Faith, you mean?"

"Yeah," Xander said. "She's been staying with Angel, isn't that what Giles said?"

Willow looked at him. "That means Angel knows too."

"Looks like Buff was the last to know," Xander said shaking his head in disbelief.

"Poor Buffy. Do you think we should go and see how she is?" Willow asked, concern registering on her face, her eyes glancing towards the stairs yet again.

"I don't know Will. She's pretty upset. Buffy's not one to talk, hit maybe, but not talk. Maybe we should give her some time to deal," Xander suggested shrugging his shoulders.

"We could go find Faith," she suggested hopefully.

Xander's disgust showed. "Why? She betrayed Buffy … again. What's the point?"

Willow was torn. She had seen Buffy's anger and hurt, but she also saw Faith. "I don't know Xander. There's more here. I can feel it. Didn't you see Faith? Did you see how she looked?"

"She looked guilty. That's all I saw."

"Xander," Willow said, "stop being all mad for a second."

Xander wasn't one to look all thinky most of the time; confused and scared, okay. Usually he was one to just blurt something out. But Willow could tell that he was actually putting some thought into his answer.

"I don't know," he finally said. "She looked guilty, hurt, what do I know?"

"It wasn't guilt. It was defeat."

Xander shook his head. "This is Faith we're talking about."

"No, think about it. Didn't you see the change in her? She was being all, I don't know, teamy. She was part of the group, helping us, hanging with us, and it didn't feel all strained like it used to. Buffy jumped all over her without knowing what happened or why she hadn't told us. Don't you remember, she said it wasn't up to her?"

Xander's face softened ever so slightly.

"Buffy had the right to be upset. But I think she's more upset with Spike than she is with Faith. Faith was here. Spike wasn't." Willow stood. "I think we should go look for Faith. I doubt Buffy will be coming down anytime soon, and we should try to patch things up."

Xander didn't have time to argue.

Buffy came racing down the stairs, taking two at a time, not bothering to acknowledge either one of them, she bolted out the front door and left it standing wide open.

"I think she just beat us to it," Xander said.

XXXXX

Buffy was running by the time she hit the end of the street. Her first impulse had been to stay in her bedroom all day and try to sort out what had happened, but after an hour, she knew that wasn't going to work. She needed answers. She needed to go to the one place that she knew she'd find them.

She didn't bother knocking, she had earned the right not to.

"Back so soon?" Spike asked. He was sitting in his worn out comfy chair reading. He began to put his book on the table without looking up.

"Funny. I was about to ask you the same thing," Buffy said breathlessly from the doorway. She saw him stiffen, his gaze slowly moving from the book to her. She didn't care how much she had surprised him. Now they were even.

"Buffy," Spike replied softly, his gaze meeting her glare as he stood up, setting the book down on a nearby table.

Buffy didn't dare move even a muscle. She was terrified of what she might do. She was torn between embracing him and killing him. Right now she wasn't sure which she wanted to do more.

"You found out," he said.

Buffy was finding it hard to talk through gritted teeth and that entire forgetting to breathe thing, so she willed herself to relax. She unclenched her fists and took a deep breath. "Yep."

Spike shook his head. "Saw me, huh?"

"With Faith."

"What do you want me to say?" Spike moved towards her.

It was Spike… it was her Spike. She knew it. She felt it. He was standing in front of her and he truly wasn't dead. The person she counted on, depended on and… okay who was she trying to kid... needed. He was not ten feet away from her. _Spike_ was talking to her and moving closer and if she didn't do something soon Spike might actually touch her, and if he did that she would lose the little control she had.

"Stop!" Buffy put up her hand, stopping him in his tracks as she took a step back. She knew she was close to losing it and the mood needed to change. "You so don't want to be within hitting distance of me right now." Anger… anger she could deal with. All that other stuff was making her head all swirly.

"I'm sorry Buffy." She could see it in his eyes… in Spike's eyes, and he was sorry "What do you want me to say?" Okay now he was repeating himself. This is going well…

No! Wait! Spike wasn't supposed to be asking the questions. She was supposed to be doing the asking. This isn't going at all the way it was supposed to go. The plan was to walk in, say little and glare.

Glaring always worked. Once she did that he would have some kind of meltdown and tell her everything she needed to know without her having to ask him. It wasn't working out that way and now he was putting it all on her and it was pissing her off. He knew damn well why she was here. He knew damn well what she wanted to know. He knew damn well why she was so angry.

"What do I want you to say? Jeez, Spike, where would you like me to start?"

Spike didn't answer, but kept his gaze fixed on hers, waiting for her to go on.

"Let's start with what I know. Hmm let's see. You've been back long enough for Faith to hook up with you in L.A. and you came here with her. Caught a ride in that sporty car of hers. Hell, at this point that could even be a lie. Car could be yours for all I know."

"It's Faith's," he volunteered.

"Oh, thanks so much for your honesty," Buffy said sarcastically.

"This is my fault Buffy. Nobody else's. Not Faith's."

"There wasn't even a question Spike. A question could be…" Buffy stopped, realization dawning in her. "Angel," she whispered. "Angel knows too."

Spike came to her, putting his arm gently around her shoulder and leading her to sit down. Buffy didn't fight him. "Everyone knows don't they?" she asked quietly, sitting down and not meeting his gaze.

"In L.A… yeah."

Buffy looked up at him. She knew there was more, she could tell by his face. She was afraid to ask, she was afraid of what he still hadn't told her and she wasn't sure if she could take anymore.

"Tell me," she finally said, the anger finally beginning to melt away.

"Giles and Andrew."

Buffy felt as though all the air had been knocked out of her. Giles knew too? He didn't tell her? Giles? Andrew knew and he didn't spring it on her in one of his video documentaries? Andrew lived for that stuff. He would've considered her surprise priceless. But Giles?

"I know what you're thinking," Spike began.

"You have no idea what I'm thinking, Spike, so don't even bother. People I trust, the people I feel closest to, lied to me…. And kept things from me. They knew all about this and never said a word. Any idea on how that makes me feel?"

"It's me, remember? I've always known what you're feeling," he said taking her chin softly in his hand. "It's my fault. If you're going to be mad at anyone be mad at me."

Buffy glared at him, pulling her chin from his hand... there it was, anger was back.

"If you're going to hit me, just bloody do it," he said.

Buffy was taken aback. He thought she was going to hit him? She wasn't like that anymore; okay _they_ weren't like that anymore. She was hurt and angry and really ticked off, but she wasn't going to take it out on him.

"I'm not going to hit you," she sighed.

"Good," Spike said, showing his little wicked smile, "didn't feel much like getting pummeled this morning anyway."

Buffy couldn't help it, she smiled slowly back at him. "I should so hate you right now."

"I'm sorry," he said genuinely. "I know I should've told you."

Buffy's smile disappeared as quickly as it had come. "Why didn't you?"

Spike shrugged his shoulders and sat on the arm of the chair. "I don't …I don't know." She could see him struggling to find the right words. "When I first came back, I wasn't really back. I wasn't corporeal. I was a ghost, literally. The amulet was somehow sent to Angel. I guess I was kind of inside it – it was my new home for a bit. It took, hell if I know, months for me to actually _be _back. After that I had heard that you had taken off to Europe and were getting on with things. Who was I to interfere? You had a life, a life of not being the Chosen One. You left Sunnydale behind you pet, and I didn't want to bring back any of the bad."

"That's how Andrew knew, when he came back to get Dana," Buffy said, more as a thought than a question.

"Yep, and again when Angel and I went to Italy. We tried to find you, but we just kept missing each other. Told Andrew not to say anything because I wanted to tell you myself. Kind of surprised he kept his word. Strange boy - actually told everyone not to tell you 'cause I wanted to do it myself."

"What about Giles?" Buffy asked quietly.

"Not quite sure when he found out, maybe when the boy came for Dana. Angel would know better than me." He brightened, remembering something. "He knew when he called Faith and told her about Sunnydale. He asked if I had told anybody yet."

"What about Faith? When did Faith find out?"

"Faith stumbled on me when she came to see Angel. She and Robin had gone their separate ways and she was looking for a friendly face."

"And she found you?"

"No. She found Angel. Got stuck with me."

Buffy caught the slight smile and softening on Spike's face when he said the last part. "Got stuck with you? What do you mean got stuck with you? What aren't you telling me?"

"You didn't love me Buffy," his voice barely above a whisper.

It felt as if her heart had stopped beating in her chest. "What does …? If I recall, big fire, walls caving in, me saying… that I did, you going all glowy."

"But you didn't mean it."

How could he say that? Of course she had meant it. If she didn't mean it she wouldn't have said those words. But how had she meant it? Towards the end they had come full circle. They were confidantes, they were friends, and they covered each other's backs. They both had left the darkness behind and had moved forward to a place of knowledge, companionship, love and understanding. She needed him and was devastated when he was gone. She had moved on without him, knowing in her heart that he loved her and she loved him. He had gone out in a blaze and he had loved it; she had felt it with him in those last moments. Felt it as their hands were united as one, when the flames started to take over and the Hellmouth began to cave in on itself.

Was that love?

She was even more confused. "I don't know anything right now. Life, death, love, hate. They're all words that keep getting all bumpy in my head." Spike seemed to accept her answer because he didn't push her any further. "Do you love her?" she asked. Buffy caught the wary look on his face. "It's a valid question."

"You know I'll always love you Buffy."

She could see how uncomfortable he was getting, but she didn't care. She wanted an answer – and this wasn't about her. Well right now it wasn't. "You didn't answer me."

"We shouldn't be talking about this right now." Spike stood clearly agitated. "I don't bloody know. Think you're confused. Try being me right now."

"We shouldn't be talking about this right now?" Buffy stood and faced him squarely. "When were we supposed to talk about it Spike? Maybe a few months ago? Oh wait, couldn't do it then, now could we?"

Spike just looked at her. She knew that look; he wasn't going to answer her, and if he wasn't going to answer… Buffy knew all too well what that meant. She was resigned to the fact that no matter how much she pushed him right now he wasn't going to admit anything to her. Buffy decided to let it go, if only for the moment.

"Fine, where's Faith?" she finally managed to say.

"She isn't here," Spike said, concern showing on his face.

Buffy was confused. She had figured Faith would come back here. "Haven't you seen her?"

"Not since she left to go back to your place".

Buffy involuntarily glanced at her now bruised knuckles.

"You hit her, didn't you?"

Buffy ran her fingers through her hair, brushing the loose strands from her face. "Yeah, I was… frustrated," she said standing up. "She wouldn't tell me anything. I was pissed off."

"More than once, I'd wager."

"I was really, really mad," she said unconsciously looking for sympathy.

"Did she tell you anything?" he asked.

Buffy paused, not wanting to tell him, but she knew in the end she didn't have any choice. "That it wasn't up to her and she was sorry," Buffy said solemnly.

"Bloody hell Buffy, you hit her for that?" Spike began pacing. "I guess she deserved it then?"

Buffy finally spoke. "Where would she go? I thought she'd be here with you."

"You need to think again Slayer. She's not here." Spike shook his head and started towards the crypt door. "You have no idea what you've done."

"Doesn't mean you have to get all 'Grr' at me Spike." Buffy was getting mad as well, and then he'd gone and called her 'Slayer'… definitely not a good sign.

Spike lowered his voice and stopped. "I'm sorry, it's just that she's been through a lot and she was changing - for the better. I'm afraid what this could do to her."

"Why all the concern for Faith all the time? She's not some china doll that can get easily broken. She'll be fine." Even as she said it, she knew Spike wouldn't believe it - she wasn't sure she believed it herself. "Where would she go?"

Spike didn't answer.

"Come on Spike. Where would she go?"

"I don't know."

XXXXX


	8. Back to the Beginning Part 8 of 18

Faith didn't know where she was… and she really didn't care.

It felt as though she had walked for hours and everything she passed by was a blur, a non-entity, of no importance to her. She was alone, just like she was supposed to be. That's the way it had always been.

She should be used to it.

Get close to people they hurt you. They disappoint you. You disappoint them. That's how the game was played.

She shouldn't have forgotten that, but she had. Faith guessed that's why it hurt so much this time. She had hoped it would be different.

Faith had broken all of her self-made rules, the ones that had gotten her this far. Why hadn't she learned that nothing ever changes? It might look new on the surface, but underneath it was the same. It always ended up being the same.

She didn't know what to do or where to go. Faith felt as if her heart was going to explode in her chest… which she supposed wouldn't be a bad idea; it would stop the pain wouldn't it? The humiliation?

Faith stopped walking suddenly.

What was she doing? Why was she so upset? She was better than all of this and she was better than all of them. She didn't need any of them. She didn't need anything. She had been just fine before she had ever heard of Sunnydale. She could just leave. Go someplace. Anyplace but here. After all this was just a small chunk of her shitty life. Why was she acting like it was so damned important?

She laughed. "Getting upset over B and a vampire? How pathetic is that?" she said to the empty night air. Faith realized that the blood from her nose had dried and it was still there. Guess she owed B one, didn't she?

Faith scrubbed the dried blood off with the back of her hand.

Bitch! It wasn't even her fault. Since when was she the one to tell everyone's dark and dirty secrets? She had enough of her own and she wasn't about to start in on Spike's.

So why was she the bad guy all of a sudden? Because she always ended up being the bad guy.

"Fuck 'em all," she shouted out and this time she was running.

XXXXX

"Look," Xander said pointing out the window.

"What?" Willow asked moving to stand beside him. She pulled the curtain back. "Is that Faith's car? The one we keep hearing about?"

"Looking like it is." She saw Xander pause and took a closer look. "But not looking like Faith."

"Oh! It's Buffy..." Willow's eyes widened. "And Spike! Xander, she brought him back." Dropping the curtain and turning to him. "Buffy went and got Spike?"

"This can't be good," Xander said going to the front door and opening it.

"Bloody hell," Spike said whipping the blanket off of him and tossing it on the floor. "Figured my blankie days were over."

"Just get out of my way," Buffy demanded pushing past him and closing the door. "Will, we need you to do a locater spell. We need to find Faith."

"Okay," Willow said. "I probably have what I need. I'll be right back." She raced up the stairs.

"Color me confused," Xander said following both Spike and Buffy to the living room. "We're finding Faith now? This morning you were beating her and kicking her out of the house."

Buffy avoided Spike's eyes and turned towards Xander. "It wasn't exactly a beating, Xander. And yes, we need to find her."

"Seems like Buffy jumped the gun a little. Isn't that right Buffy?" Spike said looking at her.

"Don't start blaming me for this, Spike. If you'd told me yourself this wouldn't have happened. You're as much to blame as I am," Buffy said defiantly.

"You two aren't going to start in with the fighting again are you?" Xander asked, taking a step backwards.

"We're not fighting," they said in unison.

"We're discussing," Buffy added.

"Just a 'lil chat," Spike declared.

"Oh, brother." Xander shook his head.

Willow came bounding down the stairs. "Got it," she said.

The gang followed her into the dining room where she unfolded a map of Sunnydale and laid it out on the table. She held a talisman over the map and began to chant quietly to herself.

"Do you see that?" Xander asked, pointing to a light on the map.

"That's what it should do!" Willow exclaimed.

It looked as if a small-circular light was being shown on the map. It moved around slowly and finally settled on one spot.

"Where is that?" Buffy asked.

"Looks like the docks." Spike indicated, pointing to the oval light.

"Then that's where we're going." She turned and started towards the front door.

"You seem to be forgetting one thing," Spike called out after her.

Buffy stopped and turned to face him. "I didn't forget." She picked up his blanket and tossed it to him. "Here. It's almost dark anyway."

"Oh, thanks ever so."

"We should come with," Willow said. She caught Buffy's questioning gaze. "It's the least we could do," she said. "Isn't that right Xander?"

"Umm. Yea," he said looking from Willow to Buffy. "It's the least we could do."

Buffy and Spike got in the Viper. Xander and Willow couldn't since it was only a two-seater; Buffy had decided that they should take both cars to be on the safe side.

"Why Buff? We should take the Viper. You know… go topless," Xander suggested. "Me and Will could sit on the back, like we're in a parade. You know, we could wave at all the people as we drive by."

After catching the look Spike shot him, Xander must've figured that wasn't a good idea. He and Willow ended up following them in Joyce's jeep.

It didn't take long to get to the docks.

The sun had just gone down when they got out of the car and Spike tossed the blanket on the seat. "Bloody glad to get rid of that," he said.

Buffy figured it would be a good idea for them to split up. "Will, you and Xander go that way." Buffy indicating back the way they had just come. "Go all the way out and work your way back. Check everything. She's here somewhere. Spike and I will work our way back towards you. She's here, we'll find her. Questions?" Buffy glanced at each of them to see if there were any. "Good. Let's go."

XXXXX

'Will you tell me now?" Buffy asked, glancing at Spike as they walked.

"Tell you what?" Confusion gathered in his eyes.

"If you were ever going to tell me?" Buffy stopped walking and looked at him.

Spike stopped beside her, turning to face her. "I don't know."

Buffy waited. She could tell there was more he needed to say, but she also knew he was struggling for words. Was she pushing him? She didn't think so. It was something she wanted, no, needed to know and deserved to know. Right now was as good as a time as any to find out.

She reached out and touched his cheek. "Just tell me." Buffy wasn't sure if he was going to respond, because he didn't have the chance to.

Faith came from out of nowhere.

She flew at both of them, knocking Buffy out of the way and sending her flying into garbage that was scattered along the dock. The force of Buffy's landing brought down cans, boxes and other debris, burying her underneath.

Buffy hated being buried.

Faith was focused on Spike. She landed on top of him, straddling him and pummeling his chest with her fists over and over again. Spike tried to talk to her, but he couldn't say anything. Faith wasn't giving him the chance. She was caught up in hitting him and yelling at him. Each time she struck him, she got louder until she was screaming.

Buffy laid sprawled flat on her back, struggling to get up. Every time she tried to push something off, something else fell. Still, she could hear Faith yelling, but she hadn't heard Spike since he had hit the ground and she had gone flying.

She finally worked herself partially free, enough to sit up. Where did it all this stuff come from? She pushed boxes, papers, and cans off her legs. Now if she could clear the rest off she might actually be able to stand up.

"Why did I trust you?" Faith screamed. "You lousy son-of-a-bitch. You're just like everyone else. You're a fucking vampire. I'm a Slayer. I'm going to do what I should have done a long time ago."

Faith retrieved a stake from her waistband and held it high over Spike's heart. "You were dead once. I'll make you dead again. How does that sound? Does that sound like a plan to you? Everything can go back to the way it used to be."

Buffy was seized by panic and tried to scramble through the garbage and make her way towards them on her hands and knees.

Spike must have caught her out of the corner of his eye because he finally managed to yell, "No Buffy!"

She tentatively stopped, finally able to stand up. She brushed the remaining trash from her clothes. Holding back like this was going against her gut, but she respected Spike's wishes. God knew this wasn't the first time he'd been on the receiving end of a half-crazed Slayer's rage.

Faith acted like she hadn't heard him yell. She raised the stake even higher and clutched it in both hands.

Spike spoke softly, "What are you waiting for?"

Something changed in Faith. Buffy saw it. Faith's eyes seemed to finally focus on him and she looked up at the stake in her hands. Realization dawning, she dropped it and tried to scramble off of him.

Spike wouldn't let her go. He grabbed Faith by her arms and then her shoulders, pulling her down to him tightly and then wrapped his legs around hers so she couldn't move.

Faith struggled to get him to let her go, but it was all for nothing. He only held her closer, whispering something quietly in her ear.

Faith finally gave in and she began sobbing uncontrollably in Spike's arms. Buffy wasn't sure if it was from pain or frustration… or maybe a little bit of both.

Not able to watch anymore, Buffy turned away.

XXXXX


	9. Back to the Beginning Part 9 of 18

They finally made their way back to the Summers' house.

Buffy tagged along with Willow and Xander who were full of questions Buffy didn't have the energy to answer. Spike and Faith followed them in the Viper.

Xander pulled into the driveway and continued into the garage. Spike parked behind him not too long after. Xander and Willow had already gone into the house, but Buffy decided to wait for Spike and Faith.

She approached Spike as he opened the driver's side door. "You need any help?"

"I think I got it," he said walking around to the other side of the car.

"She doesn't look good," Buffy said. Faith was sitting in the passenger seat, not moving and staring unseeingly out the front window.

"She needs some rest," Spike said opening the door. He reached in and helped her out of the car. "Faith's been through a lot lately. 'Spect this just added to it."

Faith got out slowly, not looking at either of them. Spike bent down and picked her up, carrying her groom style to the front door. Buffy closed the car door.

"Put her in my room," she said, following them into the house.

"Thanks," Spike said meeting her gaze and giving her a small smile. He continued up the stairs and Buffy heard her bedroom door close.

Willow met her in the foyer. "You okay, Buffy?"

Buffy glanced at her, a tired smile on her face. "Yeah."

"Strange day, huh?"

"You could say that."

Xander joined them. "Are you ever going to tell us what happened?"

Buffy was thoughtful for a moment. "Totally? Probably not. Only two people really know what happened." She glanced up the stairs. "I don't think either one of them is talking at the moment."

XXXXX

Spike laid her gently on the bed.

Faith rolled over and turned away from him. She was spent and she didn't want to talk about any of it. She just wanted to go to sleep, for a very long time, and forget any of the last twenty-four hours had happened.

When would her life ever stop sucking?

"You okay?" he asked bending down and stroking her hair gently.

Faith didn't want to talk; she didn't want to think; she didn't want to feel anything she was feeling at the moment, and most of all, she didn't want Spike touching her. It was making her way too uncomfortable.

"Can't you just leave me alone?"

"Sorry. Can't do that," he said sitting down on the bed.

Faith finally rolled over and looked at him. "Are you sure you wouldn't rather be downstairs?"

Spike shook his head. "I'm where I want to be right now."

"What about later?" she asked.

Spike leaned in and whispered, "Don't worry about later, Faith. Later usually takes care of itself."

Faith stifled a yawn as she rolled back over and away from him.

"I'm so tired," she said more to herself. She felt the mattress shift as Spike laid down next to her, putting his arms around her. Knowing it would be a waste of time, Faith didn't protest.

Faith didn't know it, but Spike had stayed with her until she had fallen asleep.

XXXXX

Buffy couldn't sleep. Again! Like she wasn't having trouble before. After the day she had, it was going to be nearly impossible.

She sat on the couch in the dark, knees up under her chin, not using the fresh pillow or blanket Willow had given her. She didn't much see the point.

Xander and Willow had turned in hours earlier. All had been quiet thereafter. She didn't want to, but Buffy kept straining to see if she could hear any sounds coming from her room.

What were they doing up there?

Stop! Bad Buffy. It wasn't any of her business. Was it? No, it was their lives, right? Buffy heaved a sigh and wondered why she spent most of her life lost in the land of confusion?

They were probably sleeping anyway. It was too quiet for anything else wasn't it?

Was that her door? It was! She heard her bedroom door open and now someone was coming down the stairs.

Spike.

"You couldn't sleep either," she said, making room for him next to her on the couch.

He smiled. "Kind of used to being up at night…comes with the territory." He sat down next to her.

"Faith asleep?"

"Yep."

"You were really good with her." She took his hand and gave it a gentle squeeze.

Spike squeezed back. "Got to know her a li'l bit. A lot there... someone just needed the time to see it."

"I'm sorry," she finally said.

"Thinking you're apologizing to the wrong person."

"I'll apologize to Faith when she wakes up. But right now I'm apologizing to you."

Spike turned to her. "You don't need to pet. We're way past that I think."

Buffy turned and looked at him. They gazes met and held, Buffy leaned in and slowly kissed him softly on the lips. "I'm glad you're not dead."

Spike returned her kiss gently. "Kinda glad myself."

Buffy leaned into his chest. "I missed you. I missed talking to you. I missed having you around."

Spike put his arm around her and leaned back on the couch, bringing her with him. "Might of thought about you a time or two m'self."

Buffy closed her eyes and smiled. This felt totally natural. She felt safe and loved and she realized she hadn't felt that way for a while.

It was good to know that someone was around who could help her; take care of her if she needed it. She really had missed him. She hadn't realized how much until now.

She barely felt the blanket he wrapped around her shoulders.

XXXXX

Faith woke with a start.

It was horrendously bright and she didn't know where she was until Buffy's bedroom came into focus. That's when reality came crashing back; crushing her as though it were a physical force and sending Faith's brain into overload.

She did the only thing she could think of, she grabbed the pillow and slammed it over her face.

"I used to do that when my mom woke me up for school."

Faith pulled the pillow away and saw Buffy standing by the window, looking out into the daylight.

"Never was a morning person. Which now," Buffy paused, "probably a good thing… slayer and all." Buffy finally turned and looked at her. "I'm sorry about yesterday."

Faith turned away. This was too much for her right now and she didn't know how to handle it and to top it all off, B was apologizing to her.

"I just wanted you to know that," Buffy continued. "I put your bag in the bathroom. You can go ahead and shower. Will is yet again making a nummy breakfast. Way filling and way fattening from what I can tell." Buffy averted her gaze briefly. She then looked at Faith, their eyes meeting. "Spike is still here. We're going to put our heads together and figure out what to do today. See you in a few." She opened the door and walked out.

Faith stared at the empty spot where Buffy had been a moment before, wondering what the hell had just happened?

XXXXX

"That smells good?" Buffy said, walking into the kitchen. "I think my nose just gained ten pounds."

Willow was beaming. "I'm getting used to this cooking thing. I may have found a new hobby."

"Buff, Buffy, the Buffster," Xander said. "Are you ready for the tastiest, most fattening breakfast that you've ever had in your entire life? Lives even?"

Buffy snorted. "Yes." Then reconsidered. "I think?"

"Then by all means, sit," Xander said, pulling out a chair. "Breakfast will be served momentarily."

"What's with all the soddin' noise?" Spike said emerging from the basement. He must've caught Willow's wide-eyed look, because he gestured toward the door. "My cot's still down there." He shrugged his shoulders. "Kinda missed it."

"I need coffee. I think I smell it along with everything else I smell. Okay, I give. What's for breakfast?" Buffy asked.

"Oooh, no. There will be no surprise ruining," Xander said placing a cup of coffee down in front of her.

Buffy watched as Spike avoided the sun the best he could and made his way to the other end of the kitchen. He leaned against the kitchen counter, an amused expression on his face.

"Will and I have been working on this all morning," Xander continued.

"Hold it, Xander. Willow and who?"

"Okay." Xander's shoulders sagged. "Will's been working on it all morning. I on the other hand, have consumed WAY too much coffee waiting for her to finish… I think I may bounce off the walls."

"Wouldn't recommend it, Harris," Spike said.

Xander just looked at him.

XXXXX

Faith found her things in the bathroom, just like Buffy had said.

She quickly jumped in the shower and felt better as soon as the hot water washed over her. Showers had to be one of the best things in the world, she thought as she rinsed the shampoo out of her hair.

Once she finished, she used the towel Buffy had left her to wipe the steam off the mirror. She studied her reflection and realized she didn't look too good. The dark circles under her eyes were more prominent than ever and she had actually gotten some sleep. Faith could only imagine how awful she would've looked if she wouldn't have.

Exhaustion could do that to a person. She put a quick brush through her hair and put on some clean clothes.

Faith stood at the top of the stairs, listening as they all talked and laughed in the kitchen. Faith wasn't afraid of anything, but if that was really true, why wasn't she going down the stairs yet?

She guessed it was an affirmation as to why fleeing was one of her best traits. And hadn't that worked out well yesterday? That option was definitely out from now on, especially when they had a witch who could perform locater spells.

Faith couldn't hide up here either. Eventually they would come looking for her. Knowing she didn't have a choice, Faith took a deep breath and headed down to join them, stopping just shy of the kitchen.

"I think it's done!" she heard Willow exclaim.

"About bloody well time," Spike proclaimed. "Sick of hearing all the bellyaching coming from Harris."

"Don't forget about me," Buffy said. "I've only been hungry for like a week."

"My belly wouldn't be achy if there was something in it, now would it Spike?" was Xander's retort.

Faith felt out of place. She knew she would never truly be one of them. It would be awkward if she interrupted the group vibe. She was an outsider. Maybe she would just go back upstairs. She could always come back down when everyone else had finished eating. Faith was starving though, so maybe she'd just grab something quick and head back to the bedroom.

Faith suddenly sensed she was no longer alone. She glanced up and saw Buffy standing in the doorway of the kitchen, leaning on the frame.

"Willow has this big surprise breakfast she made," she said. "She won't tell us what it is until we're all ready to eat."

Faith didn't move.

"That means you too, Faith. Come on." Buffy motioned with her head and went back into the kitchen.

Faith reluctantly followed her

Willow had just gotten done helping Xander load a bunch of dishes on a serving tray. "To the dining room," she declared.

Willow led, followed by the others, with Faith bringing up the rear right behind Spike, who was grumbling something about Xander again.

Spike stopped long enough to ask her if she was okay. She glanced at him and shrugged her shoulders. Faith wasn't sure she even knew what okay was anymore. The definition seemed to change on a daily basis lately.

Spike gave her shoulder a light squeeze and then they all sat down at the table.

"I will be right back!" Willow said excitedly and headed back to the kitchen.

"It better be good after all this," Buffy whispered to Faith. "Xander's been building this up for like an hour."

A cup of coffee appeared in front of her. "Java!" Xander said. "Breakfast of champions!"

"Thanks," she said and took a big sip, looking around suspiciously.

Why was everyone being so nice to her?

Willow came back into the room, two oven mitts on her hands, carrying a big casserole dish.

"Okay you guys. This is the first time I've made this so be nice." Willow set the dish on a trivet that Xander had left in the middle of the table.

Everyone looked at it curiously.

"Are those nuts?" Buffy asked.

"Almonds," Willow said.

"What are those little white things?" Xander asked pointing to one with the tip of his fork.

"Oats, Xander. Hello, in the kitchen with me all morning."

"Are you people going to eat it or sit there and dissect the bloody thing?" Spike asked. Everyone knew he didn't need to eat, but they also knew how much he liked to. "Red if you'd be so kind, I'll have a piece of… well whatever this is."

Willow smiled. "Banana-Boisonberry-Strawberry-Blueberry-Raspberry-Stuffed-French-Toast with Streusel topping."

Everyone stared at her.

"Holy smokes, Will!" Xander said.

"Did I mention the hot maple syrup?" she added shyly.

Buffy laughed. "You are too much, Willow. That's why we all get warm-n-fuzzy when you're around. Hopefully, we don't all go into sugar-shock after we eat!"

Two pots of coffee and an empty casserole dish later, breakfast was over.

Somewhere along the line, Faith had relaxed somewhat and hadn't even noticed it.

XXXXX

Once they finished eating they all met in the living room. The fun was over for the day. They needed to come up with a plan, and they needed to do it soon. In Sunnydale just because things were quiet now didn't mean it would stay that way.

"I think we should stick to our original plan on doing the reveal," Buffy started. "It's still early; we can hit the Magic Box and the school today." She turned to Willow. "You still have the list of what we need. Right?"

"Up in my room."

"Have any of you stopped long enough to talk to any of Sunnydale's newest residents?" Spike interrupted.

All eyes were on him. "What?" Buffy asked.

"We've talked to a few people," Willow said, sounding somewhat guilty. "The principal at the school and, um, the guy at the grocery store and… Oooh and the boy who wanted to know if we got our paper on Sunday."

"Yes, Red. I know you've talked to them, but have you _talked_ to them?" Spike persisted.

"What are you getting at?" Faith asked.

"I'll take that as a 'No Spike, we haven't really talked to anybody.' Well, I have. Had to do something to keep myself occupied." Spike stood and began pacing. "As far as they know, Sunnydale has always been here. I went to Willie's. The bar is still there, but no Willie. Was curious about the Magic Box, so I stopped in there one night. Magic Box is still there, has the same stuff, but I've never seen the bloke before running the place. Buffy's training room is there. Talked to him, he said it's always been his, but he never used the room. Said it came like that when he bought the place. Bet if you asked Sunnydale's High's newest principal he'd tell you he's always been there too."

Buffy was somewhat embarrassed. "I got so caught up in everything, I didn't even think about that." She realized how lame that sounded. "I mean I thought it was kind of weird having a new principal and stuff, but I never thought of interrogating him."

"I did," Faith spoke up. "But I couldn't think of a way to ask him all nice like. Didn't want him to think it was twenty-question time, know what I mean? Get him all suspicious and then end up with our butts kicked out of the library."

"Now that you mention it," Xander added, "aside from you guys, I haven't seen anyone I know. No one looks familiar."

"You're right, Xander," Willow said. "I haven't seen anyone I know either. I just never stopped to think about it. I probably would've noticed if I did see somebody I knew, if that makes any sense."

"Actually it does, Will." Buffy said. "We need to do this reveal. We need to find out what's real around here."

"What are we waiting for then?" Spike added.

XXXXX


	10. Back to the Beginning Part 10 of 18

They finally made it to the Magic Box.

Buffy was surprised that after all was said and done, everyone had fallen into their familiar routines. Sometimes it felt as though they had never left Sunnydale. She just wasn't sure if that was a good thing or a bad thing.

"Can I help you?" a man asked as they walked in the door. Seeing Spike, he added, "I remember you! You like this place? You keep coming back. Maybe you'll actually buy something this time?"

Spike smiled and approached the man. "'Eh Chuck, brought some friends this time."

"What can I do for all these lovely ladies… and gentleman?"

Spike laughed. "Gentleman, now that's a stretch."

"You're not talking about me, are you Spike? I know of all people you wouldn't be talking about me like that, would you?"

Buffy so didn't have time for this. "Sorry Chuck, but there's a few things we need. Willow, you have the list?"

"Yep," she said, handing it to him. "We need all of those items and the amounts specified, please."

Chuck studied the list, muttering to himself. He glanced around occasionally, checking the list and then scratching his head. Eventually he handed the list back to Willow. "Sorry sweetheart, but we don't have any of this stuff here."

Buffy saw the confusion she felt reflected on everyone's face.

"It's a magic shop, how can you not have any of it?" Faith asked.

"Sorry girlie, I've never heard of anything on that list before."

Faith looked at Buffy. "Did he just call me girlie?" She turned back and took a step towards Chuck. "You didn't just call me girlie did you?"

Buffy stepped in front of Faith, choosing to ignore the retorts that were flying back and forth. "I'm with her. How can nothing on that list look familiar to you? You must've seen them before. And don't think of calling me girlie." Buffy warned.

Chuck shrugged his shoulders. "Because they don't… blondie."

Buffy felt like going over the counter after him. By the look on Faith's face, she was ready to race her there.

"This is going well," Spike said. "Chuck. 'Tis nothing major here." He took the list from Willow's hand. "Conjuring powder, some magical talismen, an incense or two, and a couple candles. Shouldn't be a problem, eh?"

"Spike, I'm not trying to be difficult. It's the honest truth. I have never heard of any of these things."

"Candles, you have heard of candles right?" Xander asked, amazed.

Chuck's face lit up. "Candles! We do have candles." His smile dropped. "Well we did have candles. We're all sold out now."

"Oh my God!" Faith exclaimed. "You are not sold out, you idiot." She stormed to the shelf left of the counter, grabbing two candles out of a stack of them. "Are you blind or just plain stupid?"

"Back off a bit, pet." Spike said.

Chuck looked confused. "I … Umm… I never noticed them there before." He scratched his head. "I don't know what to tell you folks."

"Do you mind if we look around?" Willow asked softly. Chuck acknowledged her by shaking his head, the look of confusion never leaving his face. "I'm going to find what I need," she said to the others. Her attention turned to Xander. "Come with me?" She and Xander headed behind the counter where they knew most of it could be found.

"Chuck," said Spike. "I'm going to show the ladies around a bit."

"Yea, go ahead Spike," he said, sitting down on a stool that was by the cash register.

They headed for the training room. None of them spoke. Buffy suspected none of them knew exactly what to say.

"What's up with that?" Faith asked, indicating back towards the door they just came through.

Buffy sighed heavily. "I have no idea."

"Doesn't make any sodding sense, now does it?" Spike continued. "Same thing happened at Willie's. They think they've always been here, but you call 'em on it and they get all flustered. Confuse real easy. The Devil would be in the details. Wanted you to see it for yourself. Strange innit?"

Buffy was getting even more confused. "You knew this was going to happen?"

"Kind of 'spected it."

"So what do we do now?" Faith asked.

Buffy knew they only had one choice. "We do the reveal. We need it even more now than we realized." Buffy walked towards the corner of the room where something had caught her eye. That's what she thought. One of her bags was here. She opened it and found stakes, holy water, a couple crosses – all her slayage tools.

"This was an extra," she said turning towards Spike and Faith. "I left it here in case of emergency. Is it really here? Is any of this really here? Maybe we're just seeing what we want to see." She stopped, another thought coming to her mind. "But if that were true, my mom would be here. Tara would be here – Anya would be here. What we remember? Probably. But not necessarily what we want, because things would be different."

"That could explain why Giles' isn't picking up on anything. There's nothing to pick up on," Faith suggested. "Well, besides that really big power thing."

"Maybe the power is the spell that's recreating Sunnydale?" Buffy suggested.

"Nothing here but the spell?" Faith asked. "Why do that? Why fake an entire city?"

"That would be the question," Buffy said.

"Maybe we haven't run into any blokes we know," Spike said, "because no one here is real." He looked at both Slayers. "Sunnydale's a fake and so are all the people. Well, 'cept us."

"Don't forget about us," Willow said, coming into the room. "You guys come up with something?"

"Not really," Buffy said. "Just trying to get a handle on what could be going on. Did you find what you needed?"

"Yep, ready to do this? Back at the high school, right?"

"How about doing it here?" Xander asked. "Ol' Chuck up there is acting like we're not here anymore. Besides, do we really want to do this right over the Hellmouth?"

Buffy considered Xander's suggestion. "Less chance of being interrupted. Give us a better idea of what we're working with before we go anywhere near the Hellmouth. We could leave through the back if we had to," Buffy agreed. "I like it."

"Good idea," Faith said giving him a light push. "The more I think about it, the less I like being out and about lately anyway."

"Kind of gives me the wiggins," Buffy said. She glanced towards the windows. "It's going to be dark soon. I can feel it."

Faith shuddered. "So can I."

"Can you do it, Red?" Spike asked. "Ready now?"

"This I can do," Willow said confidently.

"Maybe we should go downstairs," Xander suggested.

"Why?" Willow asked.

"Little more private… don't want Chuck to wake up all of a sudden and come looking for us in here. We can lock him out," he said, shrugging his shoulders.

"Look at that, Harris has a plan. Splendid!" Spike said, slapping him on the back.

"Why do people keep doing that?" Xander said still rubbing the spot Faith where had pushed him.

"Let's go," Buffy said, not wanting to get into yet another Xander and Spike exchange. Sometimes those two could be tiring, now being one of those times.

Buffy watched as Willow began setting up. She had Xander drag a table over for her so she could lay everything out. From what Buffy could see, everything they needed was accounted for.

"That's double?" Faith asked.

"You got even more than double," Buffy said.

"Kind of a last minute decision," Willow said. "Figured with two of you and maybe needing it to last a little bit longer, we might need it."

"Good thinking," Buffy said.

"So what's the plan? I mean exactly?" Xander asked.

"The spell's a little different since I'll be doing it; Buffy did it on her own before." Willow looked around. "Buffy and Faith need to come sit here." She motioned to a place in the middle of the floor. "They'll need to sit side-by-side, holding hands so they can connect to each other." Willow looked at them, concern showing in her eyes. "I'm hoping if you're connected before the spell, you'll stay connected after it. I don't want to take the chance of you two going in different directions once it's been cast. You'll be bound to each other. Where one goes, theoretically the other won't be too far behind."

Buffy and Faith sat down. Willow took a small bag from the table and began sprinkling what looked like sand around them, leaving Buffy and Faith enclosed in a circle. "This is the conjuring circle," Willow announced.

She then retrieved the incense and placed them evenly around the outside of the circle. "This is to keep you connected and contained within."

Next came the talismen, both Buffy and Faith were given one to hold.

"This is to ensure yourself a place within the spell."

A candle was placed in front of each Slayer. "To light your way." Willow lit the candles. "You two okay?" she asked, smiling weakly. "I'm ready to go if you are."

Buffy and Faith glanced at each other. "Ready if you are," Buffy said.

"I'm with ya B. We'll still be here though, right? We'll just see what's real?" Faith asked.

"That's how it worked last time." Buffy looked at Willow. "Same thing this time, right Will?" Buffy tried to keep the trepidation out of her voice.

"Yep. It's kind of like what's here will be here. You'll be able to see it. It won't go away – like us. Anything that's not here will fade in and out. Kind of like a bad radio station… Umm except it's not a hearing thing, it's a seeing thing."

"Guess that makes sense," Faith said. "How long will it last?"

Willow sighed deeply. "If it works, anywhere from five minutes to..."

"Bugger! Just bloody get on with it," Spike shouted.

Buffy looked at him as he stood against the wall, running his fingers through his hair. She wouldn't have been surprised if he started pacing along with it. She turned and saw that Faith was giving him a small reassuring smile.

"We'll be okay," Buffy said. She knew he cared about both of them and this entire thing was probably causing total freakage.

"Okay," Willow began. "Let's get going. Take each other's hand and close your eyes. Focus on the words I'm going to say and make sure you grip the talisman tightly with your free hand."

Buffy took Faith's hand and picked up the talisman as Faith did the same. Both Slayers squeezed the other's hand slightly and closed their eyes.

Willow began walking slowly around the circle and lighting the incense as she went. She began to chant.

"Show them the way

Show them the path

Guide them

Reveal the truth

Shadow the lies

Illumine the real

Let them see with their own eyes"

Buffy should have been prepared, she had been through this before, but she wasn't. As soon as Willow had completed her chant, Buffy felt her head fall and her shoulders sag. A huge rush raced through her. It started in the pit of her stomach and radiated out, her head whipped back suddenly and she almost dropped the talisman.

Quiet.

She was aware that she was still holding Faith's hand. A couple times she was afraid that Faith was going to let go. Faith had inadvertently tried to pull away from her, but Buffy wouldn't let her hand go, gripping it tighter. If Faith hadn't been a Slayer, Buffy knew that the force she was using to maintain contact would've broken the fine bones in her hand.

As quickly as the overwhelming feeling came, it stopped. The spell had been cast.

They were about to discover the truth about Sunnydale.

Buffy opened her eyes.

XXXXX


	11. Back to the Beginning Part 11 of 18

"Okay, that was weird," Faith, thought. If felt as though her insides had been tossed roughly up into the air and then slammed back down into her body. Just as fast as it started, it stopped. Now all was quiet.

Something was different, though. She could feel it.

Faith knew she could open her eyes, she just wasn't sure she was ready yet. She gripped Buffy's hand even tighter to make sure she was still there. Buffy squeezed her hand back. That gave Faith the additional strength she needed to open her eyes.

Which she did… very slowly... and she couldn't see a damn thing.

Well okay, it wasn't that she couldn't see, it was that there was nothing to see, total darkness, blackness, she blinked rapidly trying to clear her sight.

What in the hell was she seeing now? Everything around her was flickering in and out of focus. Faith glanced to her left and saw Buffy. She was whole, complete, no flickering. Faith smiled when she saw that Buffy was looking around like a newborn too.

"What do you see?" Faith finally asked.

Buffy turned and looked at her. "You," she said, turning her head slowly and looking around.

"Can you see us?" Spike asked.

"Yes," both Slayers said in unison.

"And Will and Xander. I can see you all," Buffy said.

"But that's it," Faith said.

"What?" Willow asked.

Faith stood, bringing Buffy with her. "I can see you. All of us, but, I don't know. It's weird. This room. This building. It's here and then it's not. It goes from this room to nothing. Nothing is there." Faith was finding it hard to explain.

"She's right," Buffy contributed. "There's nothing here, nothing but us. The Magic Box isn't here."

Faith turned to Buffy. "Ready to go for a walk?"

"Let me check something first."

Faith watched as Buffy ran over to the emergency bag she had brought downstairs with them. She picked it up and took a stake out.

"Well look at that," Faith said. The stake was there one minute and gone the next.

"I can still feel it," Buffy said. "I just can't see it." She dropped the bag. "Thought I'd use it, but guessing not a good idea, invisible stakes, not real handy in a pinch." Buffy came back and took Faith's hand. "I'm ready as I'll ever be," she said.

"Ah, B. Do you think you can let go of my hand now?"

Buffy snorted. "Oh! Sorry," she said dropping it.

"I'm glad I'm wearing my own stuff and didn't decide to hit the mall when I got here." Faith said, looking down at her clothes. Faith laughed aloud when she saw a look of terror spread across Buffy's face.

Buffy frantically began checking her own clothes. "For a second there I was afraid my clothes would be all flickery." Buffy sighed.

"Talk about distractions," Xander agreed.

Faith saw Spike's eyes light up and go all-thoughtful. She shot him a look; catching the one that Buffy was shooting him at the same time. Spike knew he was outnumbered and prudently chose not to say anything.

"Umm, back up and out?" he said instead.

"Yep. Let's go." Faith said, looking at Spike. "You are going to follow close, right?"

"Not letting you out of my sight." Turning around, he mumbled under his breath, "Couldn't 'ave taken time to go to the bloody mall."

"Couldn't let it go could you?" Faith said, giving him a light shove.

Faith headed for the stairs, suddenly feeling like a mother duck with her four ducklings tailing close behind her. She stopped when she reached the stairs, turning and looking at Buffy with a questioning gaze.

"You'll be able to walk up them," Buffy said. "They'll look like they're not there every second or so, but this is a spell. They'll still be there. Understand? You won't fall. You can't see them, but you'll be able to feel them... just like my fake stake."

Faith thought about it. "Maybe you'd better lead," she said taking a step back.

"Okay."

XXXXX

They made it all the way up from the basement and through the workout room. The feeling itself was very disorienting. Faith had to stop looking at the stairs because they kept fading away. She was afraid she was going to fall into nothingness. It didn't matter what Buffy had told her, it was still wigging her out.

Chuck was still sitting behind the counter. He was there one second and gone the next. Faith had stopped walking to watch him fade in and out. She was fascinated. It was like watching someone with a strobe light flashing, except he wasn't moving and there wasn't a light.

"Come on," Spike urged from behind.

"You heading out?" Chuck asked.

"Yep," Spike said. "G'night."

"This is too bizarre," Faith said as they headed out into the street, looking around. It was the same thing out here. One-minute stuff was there, the next nada. Well, unless you wanted to count total darkness as something.

"You seeing, or not seeing what I'm seeing?" Faith asked as they all walked to Joyce's jeep.

"I'm right there with you," Buffy said.

Faith noticed the flickering of their transportation. "Guess we're walking to school."

It was the same wherever they went. People, buildings, streets, and signs: they were all flashy. There one minute, gone the next. There was no doubt in Faith's mind that Sunnydale really didn't exist anymore.

"I guess we have one question answered," Faith said as they walked.

"What's that?" Willow asked.

"Sunnydale is definitely gone. Nothing here is real," Faith said.

Buffy glanced at Willow. "Good spell Will."

Willow beamed. "Good. I'm glad it worked. Although not real happy about the outcome," she said frowning slightly.

"So," Xander asked, "did we just answer some questions or create a whole new nummy batch?"

"I'm going with the whole new nummy batch idea," Buffy said as they approached the school.

"There it is," Xander said.

"And there it isn't," Faith said, shaking her head. "This just sucks."

"Everything's a little wonky, isn't it?" Buffy asked.

"That's not the half of it." Faith sighed deeply.

"You'll be fine," Spike reassured her from behind.

"Thanks," she said, turning and smiling at him.

"Looking like it's closed," Xander pointed out.

Buffy proceeded up the steps to the door. "Not for long." And with that she used her elbow to break the glass.

"Ha!" Faith said. "Look at B being the bad Slayer."

"Not like it's the first time," Buffy said, winking.

"Hopefully it's the last," Xander said.

"What?" Buffy asked as she fiddled with the inside of the door.

"Her last time having to break into the school. Not the last time being the bad Slayer."

"Xander!" Buffy said again. Faith couldn't help but laugh.

"Nooo," Xander said obviously uncomfortable. "That's not what I meant either."

"Give up while you can, Harris," Spike said, smirking.

They made their way slowly into the school. Thankfully no one was around. Somehow Faith had made her way to the back of the group. Xander, Willow and Buffy were up ahead talking quietly among themselves and Spike was walking beside her.

"How you holding up," he asked, taking her hand in his and giving it a light squeeze.

"Okay. Not so dizzy now. Kind of getting used to it. Giving me a headache though."

"'Tis alright. I can take care of that for you later," he said with a wink.

Faith wondered if there was going to be a later. She didn't have time to dwell on it though; the rest of the gang was waiting for them outside the library.

Buffy turned back. "Come on," she said, barely above a whisper.

Faith dropped Spike's hand, a sense of guilt overcoming her and ran to catch up with the others.

"Oh my God," Buffy said, walking into the library.

Faith couldn't be sure, but it looked like the hellmouth was back in all its glory. Like everything else, the library was there one minute and gone the next. The hellmouth remained, although now, between flashes, Faith could tell it wasn't a huge crater anymore. It was more rubble than anything else, but she thought she could see an opening in the middle of all the rocks and dirt; it was entrance to a cave or a tunnel.

She and Buffy walked to the middle of the library and looked down. There it was. They were standing on top of it. Faith couldn't believe it. Sunnydale wasn't back, but its opening to hell was.

"So," Faith said. "Now we know. What do we do about it?"

Buffy hugged her arms around herself. "I've dealt with this Hellmouth too much in my life. I don't want to do it again."

Faith didn't know what to say; unfortunately she didn't have the chance to figure it out. She heard something behind her. Spinning around she cried, "Watch out."

Vampires surrounded them.

Everything happened too fast after that.

One minute she was standing there, the next she was splayed out on the floor, her legs taken out from under her, with four vamps coming towards her.

She did what she did best. She started slaying.

Faith rolled quickly to the left, grabbing a chair. Jumping up, she smashed it on the edge of the table and found herself with four makeshift stakes. Snatching them up, she stuffed them all in her jeans, except for one she planned on using. Too bad she couldn't see it anymore.

"Damn it," she screamed. She grabbed her newest additions and tossed them to the ground. She had the one she brought; she just hoped it would be enough.

Turning around, she saw that her undead bestest friends weren't too far behind her. Going on faith that the table would react the same way as the stairs at the Magic Box, Faith used it for leverage. She was grateful when she felt it under her feet, if only momentarily. "Like there was any doubt," she said half-seriously, completing her flip. Faith flew over the top of them, landing on her feet, their backs now to her. "Looking for me?" she quipped. She took them all out before they could respond.

It gave her just a second to see what was happening with the others. Xander and Willow had run upstairs to the stacks and two vampires were following them. Xander made a running dash, linebacker style, and pressed them back. They went tumbling back down the stairs.

Willow was chanting, holding out her hand. A small light appeared. No need to worry about her. Faith watched the light as it turned into a small ball of fire. It flew out of Willow's hand and towards a vamp. Catching on fire, it flared and then dusted. Willow moved on to the next one with Xander running interference for the ones that got too close.

Buffy, as usual, was holding her own. In the few seconds Faith watched her, she had taken out a few demons herself.

Spike was, well, Spike. He totally enjoyed the taunting before dusting and there was a lot of taunting going on.

Faith turned and saw even more coming towards her. "How many are there?" she shouted out.

"I don't know," Buffy said. "Too many."

"Keep fighting Slayers," Spike yelled. "Haven't gotten the best of us yet. Don't 'spect they'll do it this time."

"Where are they all coming from?" Faith asked as she took out two more. "Only one stake here."

"Heads up," Xander shouted.

Faith looked towards him as he tossed a stake her way, Faith did not take her eyes off the stake until it was safely in her hand. When it stayed, not flickering once, she oozed relief. "Thanks," she said, spinning around and taking out two more.

"We need to get out of here," Buffy said. "Xander! Willow! Go. Spike, you too. Keep them safe. You know where to rendezvous."

Faith watched as they both headed out the exit upstairs. Spike glanced at her before jumping up and over the railing... and he was gone.

"Faith we need to go," Buffy shouted. "Now!"

"Right there with you, B," Faith said, fighting and trying to move backwards towards the door at the same time. She knew there was no way they'd be able to leave the same way the rest of them had.

Faith was just about to make it when she felt an arm around her throat. "I've had about enough of you," she said, trying to spin around. She was stopped short. A strong hand had grabbed her wrist and squeezed it so hard that Faith didn't have any other choice besides dropping her stake.

She tried to fight and squirm her way loose… until she saw Buffy.

Buffy had stopped fighting. Her arms had fallen to her sides, her stake clattering to the floor. She was looking just beyond where Faith stood. She was looking at who was holding her.

The arm was still around Faith's neck; she tried to turn around to see what Buffy was staring at. Something big was happening; she just wasn't sure what it was.

"Buffy," she tried to yell, but it came out as a squeak and she knew her struggling was in vain. Whoever had her by the neck wasn't letting go and was squeezing her throat tighter. She was having a hard time breathing. It better stop soon or she was going to pass out.

"Let her go," Buffy's shaky voice said.

"Slayer," came the voice from behind Faith.

The arm dropped from Faith's neck. As soon as she was able to move, Faith pushed her way through the vampires that had gathered between her and Buffy. She didn't have time to wonder why they weren't chasing her or why they were leaving Buffy alone.

"It can't be," Buffy said.

Faith could see Buffy was on the verge of tears; she turned to see who had held her. Faith wanted to know who had terrified Buffy to the extent of which Faith had never seen before.

"It can't be," Buffy repeated.

"Oh, but it can," said the vampire.

"I killed you," Buffy's voice sounded flat.

"Guess that makes us even."

XXXXX


	12. Back to the Beginning Part 12 of 18

Faith had never seen this vamp before, but she knew who he was.

The Reveal Spell connected her and Buffy in more than one way. Buffy's terror was becoming her own. Faith couldn't actually read Buffy's mind, but Faith knew who they were dealing with.

The Master.

Faith swore silently to herself. This was so not going to end well.

"So you two are old friends?" Faith asked, moving closer to where Buffy stood and taking on an almost protective stance.

"You could say that," Buffy said, her eyes never wavering from the vamp.

"The slayer and I go way back. I tasted her once." He closed his eyes, savoring the memory. "It was quite a rush then and it will be quite a rush now when I taste you both."

"Won't happen," Buffy said.

"I'm kind of with, B. Been part of that whole bloodsucker-taking-a-little-nip-thing. Not one of my faves," Faith retorted. She was trying to stall and buy them both some time so she could come up with something, anything. She hoped she sounded calm, because on the inside she was terrified. "What I don't get," Faith continued, "is why all you old guys keep coming back. Why can't you just stay dead? Doesn't seem very fair that we kill you and you come back. Doesn't that sound, well, just wrong to you?"

Buffy looked at her questioningly.

Damn! B didn't know about Cooper and The Old One. Faith had never told her what happened. Faith wondered if Buffy knew now. She herself had sensed The Master. Did Buffy sense The Old One?

The Master laughed. "You have a sharp wit. Too bad it won't save either of you." He walked towards her. "You are the other slayer."

"The Other slayer?"

Faith and Buffy involuntarily tried to take a step back, running instead into a wall of vamps.

"I should be thanking you. If it wasn't for you, I wouldn't be here today," he said, stroking Faith's cheek with a long, talon-like fingernail.

Faith touched her check and felt blood on her fingers. "Thank me? Thinking you're a little off on that one old man. I've never even met you." She held up her fingers. "And thanks for the souvenir."

"That's the pure wonder and greatness of this all. You see," he began, sitting on the edge of the library table, "prophecies are wonderful things." The Master motioned to his fledglings. Before either slayer could protest, they were slammed into chairs and were now were even more his captive audience. The Master turned to Buffy. "Slayer, did you know there was more to the one that made us so close?"

"What are you talking about?" she asked.

"This is where it gets to be so much fun," he said, rubbing his hands together. "But you will need to keep up… I won't be repeating myself."

He glanced at Faith. "Reyal's Rellik."

Faith's heart stopped in her chest. What did that have to do with any of this? Cooper? The Old One? They were tied to this? How could that be possible? Shit! If she had learned anything, she had learned that it was not only possible - it was probable.

"I can see you're as excited as I am," he said, getting up and pacing around the table. "I can hear your blood pumping through your veins."

Faith was getting even more nervous and it didn't help when she took a quick glance at Buffy. She sat there, watching his every move, but not saying anything. She felt Buffy's terror and not much else. B needed to get a grip.

"Everything worked out perfectly. The First. The hellmouth. The Old One. Both slayers here. It's more than a master vampire could ask for," he said, settling himself back down on the table.

"Are you going to keep babbling or are you going to tell us what in the hell you're talking about?" Faith's patience was growing thin.

"Silence!" His smiled faded. "You keep interrupting me… I might do something you'd regret… even sooner."

Faith believed him.

"Now that I'm thinking about it, I should probably thank both my slayers." He turned to Buffy. "But don't worry, you will always be my favorite."

Next to her, Buffy tried to get up. She didn't make it even an inch off her chair before the two vamps standing behind her slammed her back down.

The Master stood again. "'The Master will rise!' And I did… if only briefly. I killed a certain slayer and she had the nerve to come back and kill me. And there you have slayer number one." The Master paused, his hand moving as if savoring the bouquet of a fine wine. "Slayer number one and slayer number two, they took out the entire hellmouth with a little help from their friends." He looked around. "Where are they all now? Scattered like dust to the wind I suppose."

If looks could stake, he would've been dust.

"Slayer number two was having her own problems. There was another part of the prophecy. The 'marked slayer's' blood could raise an Old One, the one who made me so many, many years ago. But slayer number two killed him. And this is where it gets fun."

The Master motioned once again. Buffy and Faith were both ripped from their chairs and forced to their feet. The Master snapped his fingers and the entire library disappeared.

The glamour was no more. Sunnydale was gone.

They were standing in total darkness; in the middle of nowhere; surrounded by vampires and they both were being pushed back into the hellmouth.

XXXXX

Buffy hadn't believed it was The Master. She thought it might actually be The First somehow coming back for them. But that idea was quickly banished with when it scratched Faith.

The Master was corporeal. The First wasn't.

The Master was back and it had something to do with her and Faith. She looked at Faith. Buffy wondered what she hadn't told her. Bloodletting ritual? The Old One? Did Spike know about it? Spike. That's why she hadn't told her. Spike must've had something to do with it too. And probably Angel. She was missing out on a lot of what happened the past few months. She suspected that she didn't want to confirm most of it.

Faith, on the other hand, seemed to be holding up pretty well. Buffy couldn't feel her anymore. Their connection had stopped as soon as The Master snapped his fingers. No glamour, no need for a reveal spell, now was there?

Stupid spell.

Buffy just wished she knew what he was up to. She shuddered at the thought; whatever it was, it couldn't be good. She needed to come up with something fast. Too bad the terror she was feeling blocked out any good ideas.

She couldn't see very well either. Buffy knew they were being led down a tunnel or a cave by the incline. Even if they could see something, there wouldn't be much to look at. Occasionally she or Faith would stumble over a rock or a loose pile of dirt. Faith's favorite word flew out of her mouth whenever she tripped, but that was okay because if Buffy could hear Faith, then she was close by.

The further down they went, the better she could see. That was odd. She would think it would be getting darker. When The Master had first snapped his fingers, there had been nothing but blackness. A blackness that seeped into her bones, a blackness that left her terrified on the inside.

The terror she now recalled from her dreams.

But what was with the light? Where was he taking them? Around the next turn, they were out in the open, well if you called a big cavern in the middle of the hellmouth out in the open. Candles were providing the light.

Why did it always have to be candles?

"We're in the hellmouth." Faith said.

"Yep."

"Figures."

They were pushed into the center of the room, which wasn't as large as Buffy first thought. There were caves and pathways branching out in all different directions. This place could go on forever for all she knew – just like the sewers of Sunnydale used to.

"There," The Master commanded.

A small group of his underlings dragged Faith and Buffy to a cage that was set up in the middle of the cavern.

"I am so not going in there," Faith said.

"You have a choice?" The Master asked.

Faith had stopped and dug her heels into the soft dirt, doing her best to try and stall their imprisonment. She actually got a few good licks in before they contained her. A group of five demons hoisted her over their head and threw her into the cage.

She landed head first with a hard thud and she didn't move.

"Faith!" Buffy cried, breaking free from the demons and rushing in to check on her. Buffy couldn't chance both of them getting hurt. They were outnumbered and Buffy knew she had no choice; she was going to end up in the cage one way or another. Might as well make it of her own free will and in one piece.

Buffy cradled Faith's head in her lap. "Faith?" she said, patting her cheek lightly. Faith's head stirred under her hand. Her eyes fluttered open.

"Fuck!" she said sitting up slowly, her hand going to the back of her head and noticing the blood on her fingers. "I really hate you guys. I mean _I_ _really hate you guys_," she screamed.

"You okay?" Buffy asked, noticing the blood Faith had left on her clothes.

"I'm fine," she said. Then she turned and looked at the vamps that had gathered around the cage. "A little pissed off, _but I'm fine_." She turned to Buffy and said quietly, "I am sooo getting sick of this shit."

"Me too."

"Ladies."

Both slayers turned their heads. The Master had taken up residence in a chair. Dressed in black, a wineglass in his hand - Buffy didn't need to ask what he was drinking - he definitely had the role of master vampire well rehearsed.

"Nice throne you got there," she said without really thinking. Her fear was subsiding; now she was just getting pissed off.

"It would appear nice, wouldn't it," he said, caressing the arm of the chair. "There's so much more, and thanks to the two of you, I'll be able to enjoy most of it." The Master paused to take a sip. "It was all destined. My rise, my fall, the slayer's death, the hellmouth and two true slayers. Not those children running around calling themselves slayers."

"It was having two slayers that created an imbalance. Just what I needed. Just what I was waiting for. I felt it, you know? When the hellmouth fell. There was just one piece left to play. So I sent Cooper to look for our lovely slayer number two. Of course he didn't know the plan was supposed to fail. It had to fail, so I could come back."

"If this is supposed to help us understand why we're all handy, not helping. Kind of making my head achy though," Buffy said.

"If you sent Cooper, then you were already back," Faith pointed out. "Need some time to polish up that story a little there pal?"

The Master only laughed. "I am enjoying this more than I thought I would."

"Whatever we can do to help," Buffy said. "Cliff note version. Now there's an idea," she said glancing at Faith.

"If slayer number two wouldn't have killed The Old One, my maker, then I wouldn't be here," The Master said matter-of-factly.

"What does that have to do with anything?" Faith asked.

"My dear, the prophecy. I already said it was destined. Try to keep up, will you?"

"You are so lucky I'm in a cage right now," Faith shot back.

"The existence of two true slayers would create an imbalance. The last called slayer would wreak havoc on an Old One, thus allowing 'The Master of All Vampires' to rise again. The destruction of the hellmouth brought my physical form back. The slaying of The Old One brought my strength back. Killing the two slayers responsible for all of this wonderful bliss will once and for all release me from this prison." The last part he shouted almost gleefully.

"God, enough of the gloating already," Faith said, pushing herself up off the bottom of the cage. "Is that part of the plan? Boring us to death?"

"Faith…" Buffy warned. She could hear that the mocking tone had left Faith's voice and pure anger had replaced it.

"I don't care, B. He's been sitting up there yakking," Faith said, her hands snapping open and shut like angry puppets. "He doesn't shut up, I might just off myself to get some peace." Faith glared at her and then laughed humorlessly. "Oh please, Buffy. Don't look so surprised. Not bad enough I've had to live in your shadow for years, slayer number two my ass. I've always been better than you. Not my fault no one ever noticed. Now I'm the unwilling lackey, a pawn to bring ugly back. Not the way this slayer wants to live anymore. I'm my own master, not him. I'm the one that gets to say when I'm done, no one else. Get it? Shit happens B. You of all people should know that."

Buffy was shocked. She knew Faith had issues. Who didn't? But killing herself? Was she serious? "And give up just like that?" Buffy demanded, standing up and facing her. "I thought you were stronger than that. You're done already? A little trouble and Faith is ready to take off again, this time for good. I was stupid to think you had changed."

"You're just figuring out now how stupid you are, B? I could've told you that a long time ago," Faith spat.

Buffy didn't think, she reacted, and once again punched Faith in the face.

Faith only smiled. This time she punched her back… twice.

Before Buffy knew what was happening, she and Faith were having an all out brawl in the small cage.

"Enough!" The Master yelled.

Buffy stopped. Faith didn't. She was coming at her yet again. "What is your problem?" she shouted, as Faith rammed her hard into the side of the cage. She tried to get the other slayer to stop. If they were going to die, it sure in hell shouldn't be by each other's hand.

"Stop her," The Master yelled again.

The cage door was yanked open and with some difficulty two underlings dragged Faith out. They stopped once they got her out of the cage, looking expectantly at The Master.

"This will not work if they kill each other. I need them both alive. Take her. Take her somewhere and contain her. I will not have this. I will not have this at all."

One of the fledglings holding Faith spoke, asking, "Where should we take her? We only have one cage."

"Idiot!" The Master yelled. "Chains. We have chains. Take her somewhere and chain her up."

They began dragging Faith away. Buffy stared at her, trying to figure out what had just happened. Faith's hair covered her face, making her expression impossible to read.

Just as they started down one of the paths, Faith shook her head, clearing some of the hair out of her face. She glanced around, her gaze settling on Buffy… and winked at her.

Faith winked at her.

XXXXX


	13. Back to the Beginning Part 13 of 18

"Bloody hell," Spike muttered as he stumbled his way out of the high school.

He hadn't run into any vampires outside the library. Normally he would've thought that was odd, but after the past few months his concept of odd had changed dramatically.

"Pssst, Spike. Over here."

Spike turned towards Willow's voice. Both she and Xander were hiding themselves across the street behind a car. In no time flat, he was hunkered down and hiding with them.

Did take long for Spike to realize what he was doing. He quickly jumped back up.

"What's wrong?" Willow asked.

"I'm not hidin' behind a bloody car. I used to be a Big Bad remember?" He nodded towards the school. "Not like there's anyone to hide from anyway."

Xander and Willow slowly stood up and looked around.

"What do we do now?" Xander asked. "We can't just leave them in there."

"You think, Harris?" Spike said, glaring at him. "I thought that was the plan. Just leave 'em both in there." Spike was beyond angry. He couldn't think straight. Not only did he leave a fight, he left both of them in there alone. That wasn't sitting well with him, wasn't sitting well with him at all.

"Don't start," Willow said. "We need to help them and you two fighting isn't doing anyone any good."

"Kind of makes me feel better," Spike said.

"Spike..." Willow began.

"Fine!" he said, throwing his hands up in surrender.

"Did you see Buffy and Faith?" Willow asked. "Or anything else, well, besides being surrounded by a bunch of big, pointy teeth?"

"They were fine when I left… making their way to the door." Spike gaze shifted to the ground. "Not looking like they made it though." Spike faltered, if only briefly. "Not sure what happened after that. I should go back. Buffy wanted me to keep you safe and you're safe." He took a step towards the school. "I'm going back in." He looked at them making sure they understood. "You two stay here. Stay safe. Red's got her mojo if you need it and I've kept my word."

It wasn't exactly a flash. It was there, and then it wasn't. All that remained was, well, nothing. Even the car Xander and Willow had hidden behind was gone.

The spell that had brought Sunnydale back had been broken.

"Who turned out the lights?" Xander asked.

Spike could see them; he didn't think they could see him though. "Over here," he said quietly, seeing the relief spread across their faces.

Least he could save somebody.

Willow's relieved look lasted briefly and then she began to chant softly

"You made it brighter, Will."

"Yep," she began. "It's sort of an enhanced brightness spell. We needed more light to see, so that's what we got."

"I don't care what kind of spell it is. All that dark was freaking me out," Xander proclaimed. "Look over there." Xander pointed to where the high school had once, okay twice, stood. "We're still here right? If Buffy and Faith were still in the school, wouldn't we be able to see them?"

"He's right," Willow said. "Where'd they go?"

Spike had a pretty good idea where they went. "Where do you think they would've taken them?" Spike asked, not really waiting for a reply. He then saw realization flash in Willow's eyes.

"Guess we're not done with the Hellmouth after all," she said.

"Soddin' hole in the ground," he mumbled, more to himself.

"More like it's not done with us," Xander said. "Okay, once again. What do we do now?"

Willow was thoughtful for a moment. "I have an idea."

Spike hoped Red's idea was going to be a good one. The thought of both slayers being alone and not showing up soon after the rest of them did had set his nerves on edge. Whatever they were going to do they needed to do quickly. Spike knew himself. He and inactivity didn't sit well. What was that expression? Fools rush in where, where, you-know-what's feared to tread?

Spike vowed he wasn't going to be the fool...even though the you-know-what's idea didn't sit all that particularly well either.

XXXXX

It wasn't the first time Faith had to fly by the seat of her pants; she just hoped it wouldn't be her last.

She didn't like hitting Buffy. Okay maybe just a teeny-tiny bit. She knew their only chance was getting one or both of them out of that cage and since it was her idea…

Now she was being dragged down some passageway by two-undead-Neanderthals who acted like they had no idea what to do with her.

She said it once, she'd say it again; leave it to minions to fuck up.

She struggled a little. Faith didn't want to make it look like she was going willingly, even if she was. But now seemed like a good time. Faith stopped dead in her tracks, freeing her right arm and smacking the vamp on her right side in the head. "How did that feel? Want another?" she said as he went flying into the wall. The vamp on her left quickly restrained her; pulling her back into his rough grasp.

After a couple more steps, Faith released both her arms and sent both of them flying. "You guys are making this too easy," she declared, standing in the middle of the tunnel, her hands on her hips. Before she could say anything else, they both were on her, had her pinned to the ground, and then dragged her back to her feet.

Faith was actually kind of enjoying herself. "Do you two have any idea what you're doing?" she taunted.

"Shut-up, slayer," the one holding her right arm hissed.

"Let me guess. It's your first slayer abduction. So fellas, I gotta ask. How's it going? Working out okay for you?"

The demon on her left yanked her arm. "He said shut up slayer."

They were now out of sight of the main cavern. "That doesn't sound too good boys. Where's your confidence?"

Faith grabbed both of their arms, did a midair somersault and landed behind them. Grabbing both vamps by the back of their necks, using the momentum of her speed, she pushed both their heads into the wall in front of them. Luck! There was crunching, little hard to move with a broken neck - or two. That would buy her some time. They weren't dusted, but it would have to do since she didn't have a stake.

Now where was she going to put them?

XXXXX

Buffy knew Faith was up to something, she just wished she knew what it was.

Time would tell; she just wasn't sure how much time they had or how much time Faith needed to do whatever she was going to do.

She hoped Spike had found Xander and Willow and they all were okay. Buffy sighed. After all she had been through she had wound up coming face-to-face with the thing that scared her most… well, used to scare her the most.

Buffy had gone back to the beginning, of everything... again.

This time things were so going to be different.

The Master's back was turned to her as she called out, "You don't scare me anymore." He turned and approached the cage, looking at her suspiciously. "I just wanted you to know that. I'm not a teenager anymore, terrified of the Big Bad Vampire." Buffy laughed. "You are so," she indicated the ground, "down there on my list." Buffy laughed again and stood up. "Funny how things change isn't it? I never would've thought it." The Master's confidence wavered, if only briefly, but Buffy saw it. "You know what I think is the most fun?" She didn't wait for him to answer. "I actually think you're more afraid of me than I am of you."

The Master glared at her. "Slayer, you do not scare me. You have never scared me and you will never scare me." He stormed the cage. "You may have surprised me once, but you never scared me. This time there will be no coming back. You will be dead… you will stay dead. They do say that three times is the charm, now don't they?"

"Yes, they do," Buffy said, smiling.

XXXXX

"You are good at that, aren't you?" Xander asked.

Willow smiled. "I'm getting better," she said, responding to Xander's question. "It may not be a big-ole-brilliant plan, but I think it's a start and it's nothing huge. Huge still wigs me out a little. Yes, I know it shouldn't after the whole, 'Hey, let's make everyone a Slayer' spell', but still..."

"But Will, how can you do a locater spell without that thingamabob you used back at Buffy's house?" Xander asked.

"This spell is a little different – not exactly a locater spell. It will show me where they're at in my mind, not all lighty on a map. It will lead me to them and you two can follow."

"So you'll be able to sense them?" Spike asked.

"If it works right, yes," Willow said. "It'll be a hint. An intuition. And it should lead me to them."

Spike wasn't sure he should say something, but that never stopped him before, why should it stop him now? "Kind of got my own locator spell. Get me close enough and I'll be able to tell you where they're at."

"I was just trying to help," Willow said, obviously defeated.

Spike had screwed up. He didn't mean to. It just kind of happened. "Not what I meant, love," he said, giving her arm a light squeeze. "Thinking maybe its time to take a mojo rest. Save your strength for the big stuff. I can find 'em."

Spike felt her relax and he was glad.

"We know where to start," Spike said. The three of them trudged slowly to the hellmouth and stopped along side it. Spike could see the one lone tunnel leading down. "Lookin' like the only way in. Guess it will make it that much easier."

"Here we go," Xander said.

XXXXX

Okay, now what in the hell was she going to do?

Faith snuck to the opening of the tunnel that the mangled boys had brought her down, making sure she kept her back to the wall.

It didn't take her long to get to the end, she peered around the corner and spotted B, still in the cage and still alive. And she was giving The Master some shit.

"Way to go B," Faith said quietly.

Now that was a good thing. Faith pretty much figured she'd be on her own, well until she could break B out. She just wasn't sure how she was going to do that yet. The Master was strong; she had assumed that she hadn't seen all his powers yet. Besides Kakistos, Faith had never been around a vamp that was full strength and this old. The Old One had been a walk in the park, but she didn't want to take any chances with The Master.

She glanced around the cavern. A quick count landed on fifteen vamps. Okay not a huge number, but no way she could take all of them out without help. And who knew how many more were scattered around that she couldn't see. She was a slayer, but she wasn't stupid, she knew when she was outnumbered and The Master being nearby didn't help matters either.

Damn it! Faith knew what she wanted to do, but she didn't even have a lousy stake on her, so she retreated back into the tunnel. She mentally forced herself to relax. What was the first thing she needed to do? Weapons, she needed weapons. Faith worked her way further into the tunnel. She didn't want to be gone forever and she knew it would only be a matter of time before they realized she was missing.

Once that happened all hell would break loose… literally.

About a quarter of a mile past her unconscious-undead-pals, the tunnel branched off to the right, so Faith went that way. It led into another cavern. This one was not as big; it looked more like a cave now that she was standing in the middle of it, and someone lived here. There were a couple cots, some books strewn about, an old table and chairs; the table had a gas lantern sitting on it and right next to it a lighter.

"I'll flick your Bic alright," she said. Faith had a pretty good idea where the boys were bringing her. In the far corner, by the bed, was a set of chains. "Undead guys kind of into the kink."

Faith beamed. "Now this stuff I can use." She grabbed one of the wooden chairs and stomped on it with her foot. She listened carefully to make sure no one had heard her. Once she knew that she was indeed still alone, she finished off the chair and then grabbed the pillow off the bed, pulling the pillowcase off. Faith gathered up all the makeshift stakes, jamming as many as she could into her waistband. The remaining ones she tossed into the pillowcase. As an afterthought, she grabbed the lantern, snatched the lighter and stuffed it into the front pocket of her jeans. You just never knew when something would come in all handy. What the hell, she grabbed the chains, too.

Faith worked her way back to the main cavern, stopping to check on her two buddies, who were still unconscious, but beginning to move around a little. She gave them both a swift kick in the head. Why? Because she felt like it. Faith then took one of the stakes from her waistband.

"See ya."

By the time she had made her way back to the main cavern, she could see that Buffy was still in the cage, there were still vamps guarding her, but The Master was nowhere to be seen. A quick survey proved to her that there were fewer vamps in here than before.

"Finally," she whispered, something working in her favor.

Faith scanned the room, trying to get her bearings. She saw the way they had come in. The way in was the way out... now to just actually get her and B outta here in one piece.

But first she had to bust her out of the cage.

XXXXX

Spike, Willow and Xander made their way down the tunnel.

Spike motioned for the two of them to stop when he realized they were only a couple steps away from the main chamber. "Wait here," he whispered.

Spike peeked in. "Not much to it," he said, motioning Xander and Willow to come closer.

"There's Buffy!" Willow exclaimed, trying to keep the excitement out of her voice and be quiet at the same time.

"Not seeing Faith anywhere," Xander added.

"Me either," Spike grumbled, not noticing the look Willow and Xander exchanged. "We need to get Buffy out and then find Faith."

"Do you think she's…?"

Spike glared. "Don't say it Harris," he growled, handing him a stake.

"Not saying anything."

"I'm going after Buffy; anyone gets near her or me, light 'em," Spike said, aiming his statement at Willow. She nodded. "Harris, anyone gets past me or Red here, use the stake."

Spike entered the cavern and ducked behind a crevice in the wall making sure his intrusion remained unnoticed.

Seeing Buffy gave him some relief, but Spike was far from comforted. Where was Faith? Why were the two of them split up? Was he already too late to save her? Spike immediately banished the thought from his mind.

Faith was not dead. He would know it, he would feel it.

Now he just needed to be sure of it.

XXXXX

Willow waited for Spike to make his move. She didn't feel nervous.

Okay not really, really nervous, she had done this spell hundreds of times. Okay not hundreds of times, but a few times. It shouldn't be a problem; a little chant, a little ball of fire and poof, bad vamps all gone. She glanced back at Xander, who smiled at her reassuringly.

Willow smiled and then stopped, a wide-eyed look taking over. "Xander, sometimes I amaze myself."

XXXXX

"_Buffy can you hear me?"_

"_Willow?"_

Buffy's voice was in her head, making it sound as if she was standing right next to her.

"_Yea! I almost forgot about this."_

"_Where are you?" Buffy asked her._

"_In the tunnel, just out of sight, Spike is in there already. Umm, Buffy?"_

"_Yea, Will?"_

"_Faith?"_

"_I don't know, but we'll find her. She's still alive. And Will, it's The Master."_

The Master? Willow couldn't believe it.

"_He's dead Buffy!"_

"_Doesn't mean much nowadays."_

"_Good point."_

"_What do you want me to do?"_

"_Just wait, you'll know," Willow instructed her "One down," Willow thought. "Two more to go..."_

It had been a while since Willow had tapped into Spike's head. She didn't think about those times much anymore, all it did was make her sad. Before Buffy had come back, or before they had brought Buffy back, they had used telepathy while patrolling. She wasn't sure she could, him being a vampire and all. But Spike's head was open to it. She just had to promise never to do it again.

Willow took a deep breath.

"_Spike?"_

"Bloody Hell Red," Spike said loud enough for Willow to actually hear him. Spike glanced back towards the entrance of the cave, realization dawning on his face.

"_We talked about this Willow."_

"_Sorry Spike. There was no other way. Well, unless you wanted me to throw a rock at you or something."_

Willow sounding even more tired than she thought she should sound.

"_Sorry, Red. It's okay."_

"_Buffy knows we're here. She's waiting for us to make our move. And Spike?"_

"_Yeah?"_

"_It's The Master."_

Willow didn't wait for him to respond, she had a feeling his response would be pretty close to Buffy's. All she needed to do now was find Faith. She had never tapped into Faith's head before; this was going to be interesting.

Willow wondered briefly why she hadn't told Spike that Faith was still alive.

XXXXX

"_Faith?"_

Who the hell is that?

Faith spun around, stake in hand, figuring someone had snuck up behind her. There wasn't anyone there. It's not like she could've heard anyone; her heart was beating so outta control at the moment.

"_Faith, its Willow."_

"_Willow?" _

Faith turned around frantically trying to find out where she was hiding.

"_I'm not there Faith. And you don't need to talk, just think. I'm in your head."_

Faith stopped.

"_You're in my head?"_

"_Yes."_

"_Get the fuck out!"_

This was even too weird for Faith.

"_Willow what are you doing in my head? Where are you?"_

"_We're all here. Buffy knows. We're going to get both of you out. Just wait; you'll know when to make your move."_

Faith waited a few seconds.

"_Willow?" _

No answer. Good! Faith's head was crowded enough without Willow roaming around in it.

Besides, there were a few thoughts she wasn't ready to share just yet.


	14. Back to the Beginning Part 14 of 18

"They all know we're here, but what are we going to do? I'm not exactly useful plan girl," Willow asked, glancing nervously at Xander.

Xander placed his hand on the small of her back. "Don't worry, Will. We have two Slayers and a souled-vampire on our team. There's got to be a prophecy about _that_ somewhere."

Willow smiled tentatively. They had been through a lot; she would've thought it would get easier over time, but it didn't.

"They're not going to do anything until they hear from me, though. That's what I kinda told them," she said.

"Someone's got to do something." Xander looked further into the cavern. "Now being a good time, since pucker face doesn't seem to be around at the moment."

"She's going to be mad."

"Who?" Xander asked, obviously confused.

"Faith."

XXXXX

"_Faith?"_

Faith jumped. Some people listen so well.

"_What now?"_

"_You need to make the first move."_

"_Which would be what exactly?"_

"_You need to distract them so Spike can get Buffy out."_

Faith laughed aloud… quietly.

"_And I thought it was going to be something tough."_

"_Do you know what to do or how to do it?"_

Faith wasn't sure, but she thought she could actually sense Willow starting to panic.

"_Willow, being a distraction, not a stretch for me. Don't worry, I'll think of something."_

"_I'll let the others know."_

Willow was gone.

Faith knew it this time; she didn't even need to ask. She hadn't realized it before, but right before Willow's telepathy kicked in, there was a slight tingling in her brain that spread out, running rampant through her entire body.

"Not so bad the second time," Faith mumbled as she made her way towards the main cavern.

Peeking around the corner, Faith saw that Buffy was still in the cage. Spike had to be close by, him being the one to bust her out and all. Willow and Xander were in the main entrance's tunnel. From what Faith could tell, there were only five or six undead guys lurking around the main cavern. She couldn't see any others, but she could sense them.

Six vamps? She could take on six of them.

Faith looked in the pillowcase and checked out her stash. Gas lantern. That gave her some ideas. She took out the lantern and snatched the lighter from her pocket. The lantern's glow soon illuminated the area around her.

Faith then grabbed the remaining stakes from the pillowcase and tossed it to the floor. There should be plenty of stakes; at least she hoped there were.

"Now or never," she said.

Faith crept into the cavern, sticking to the outlying shadows. She still hadn't spotted Spike. Buffy was still in the cage, glancing around nervously from time to time. B had to be waiting for something to happen and Faith was that something.

Faith knew their reveal connection was long gone, but still, she felt connected to Buffy. She didn't know the real reason why, although Faith had her suspicions. The fact that they both were Slayers; the fact that they had known each other for so long. How about that one time they had switched places, remnants of that? Spike… why did she go there? She so didn't want to go there, especially now. Thank God she and Angel had never done the deed… that would be too bizarre even for Faith to deal with. Faith stopped in her tracks. She was thinking of sex? Now of all times? Why the hell not? If she was going out, she was going on a happy thought… she grinned, a very, very, very happy thought.

"_Uh, Faith?"_

Faith jumped. She thought the warm-n-fuzzy feeling was from her daydreaming; now she wasn't so sure. Total wiggage was taking over.

"_How long have you been here?" _

Faith heard Willow giggle. This couldn't be good.

"_Not too long. Just a second or so. I stopped listening after Angel… can I add a 'Eww' by the way?"_

"_Willow after today? No more in my head… you could get hurt in there."_

"_Seeing your point."_

"_What did you want?"_

"_Just making sure you're okay. Been kinda quiet."_

"'_I've been busy."_

"_Yea, I noticed."_

"Willow…" 

_"Going now."_

Faith saw that a group of demons had gathered directly outside Buffy's cage. Her best bet was to take out as many as she could as fast as she could. Toasting a group would be the best way to go. Too bad they had to be so close to B. She was trying to take focus off the cage, not bring it under closer scrutiny.

"Damn it," she said, working her way further into the cavern, and then her luck changed.

Faith noticed another group emerging from a tunnel from the farthest side of the cavern. The Master wasn't with them. They could make a nice distraction.

Faith maneuvered herself closer to them, holding the lantern behind her back, trying to keep the light to a minimum. She wished that she hadn't lit it so soon, but it was done and she'd need to deal. There was no going back now.

"Anyone need a light?" she asked as she flung the lantern into the group of demons. First, two went up in flames. By the time the others caught on, they'd already, well, caught on. It was a flame induced domino effect that wound up being a pile of ash.

"Thought you might," Faith said as she made her way to the vamps that had gathered around Buffy's cage. So much for not making her the center of attention. "Sorry, B," she yelled. "Was supposed to get them away, not bring them to you."

"Just get me the hell out of here," Buffy said, glancing around nervously.

"'Spect I can help with that," Spike said, coming out from his hiding place.

"Us too," chimed Willow.

Faith could see Willow's lips moving. A ball of flame was quick to appear on her hand.

"Careful where you aim those things," Faith yelled as she made her way closer to the cage containing Buffy.

"Not a problem," Willow said, the concentration evident in her voice.

Spike beat Faith to the cage. "Ready to get out of there, love?" he asked Buffy, gripping the lock.

"More than," Buffy said. "I don't know if you'll be able to break…"

Spike snapped the lock in two, opening the door. "As you were saying?" he said with a mischievous grin.

"Nothing," she said, jumping out. "I was saying nothing."

"B," Faith yelled, tossing her a stake.

Faith couldn't tell how many vamps they had dusted. Willow was toasting them left and right; B was taking out more than Faith had ever seen her do; Spike was holding his ground too. After the tenth one Faith had dusted, she stopped counting. They just kept coming. Faith went on auto-slayage.

"Didn't we just do this?" she asked to no one in particular.

"Faith," Buffy yelled. "Less talking." She took out another vamp. "More slaying."

Faith laughed. "It's what I do best, B."

She wasn't sure how long they had fought, but the vamps numbers began to dwindle. Faith knew they wouldn't have stood a chance without Willow's magic. She could take out a gang of them in record time.

"Okay, mojo maybe not a bad thing," Faith said.

"What?" Spike asked, his vampire hearing picking up her every word.

"Not important," Faith said, taking out the last vamp that was close to her. She glanced around, noting that there weren't anymore she could see. "Anyone else find this weird or just me?" she asked.

"This can't be good," Xander muttered.

"Where'd they all go?" Willow asked.

"How can they all be gone? Where's The Master?" Buffy asked as she walked towards Faith. "This was too easy. No way The Master would let us get away."

"We're not away yet," Spike said. "Granted, not making much sense that we've got this comfy place to ourselves, but we're not out yet."

"What we didn't dust, took off," Buffy said. "That's the only thing that makes sense."

"Don't think they so much took off," Spike began. "We just didn't get any new joiners."

"What now?" Faith asked, but she knew what B was going to say before she even said it.

"We need to find The Master. Finish this once and for all. Make sure he doesn't come back." Buffy said with conviction in her voice, "Again."

"How you suggest we do that?" Xander asked.

"There is no we," Buffy said. "You and Willow are leaving. Not taking any chances with The Master. Faith, Spike and I will stay here and take care of it."

"Buffy," Willow said. "I can help. So can Xander. We're not leaving you."

Faith hopped up into the cage and sat down, her legs swinging back and forth, watching the scene unfold. She wondered how many times this group had this same conversation? Probably too many times to even mention.

"Will, I can't fight him and protect you at the same time," Buffy pleaded.

"Ah, Buff. In case you hadn't noticed, we did okay," Xander said. "It may be The Master you're dealing with again, but it's like a decade later and Will and I have learned a few things since then."

Faith could see the realization dawn on Buffy's face. She wasn't sure, but she suspected Buffy had reverted, if only briefly, to the teenage girl who had faced The Master alone.

"He's got a point, B. They did hold their own," Faith said. "Not sure about you, but when I'm dealing with the baddies, I'd rather have more people helping out than not." Faith stopped. Did she just actually admit she like working with them? She quickly continued, hoping no one had noticed. "Besides, we don't even know how many are left. The Master is going to be a threat himself, can't deny that, but what if he has like a hundred bodyguards? Little Miss Light My Fire will come in real handy about then."

"Little Miss Light My Fire." Willow snorted. "Xander she just called me Little Miss Light My Fire."

Xander looked at Willow and then quickly glanced back towards Faith. "Its okay Faith... not needing to know what you call me."

Faith smiled wickedly. "Are you sure?"

"More than sure," Xander said. "So more than sure I can't even see sure anymore. Sure is some teeny-tiny dot," he pointed, "way over there."

"I'm sorry," Buffy said, redirecting the conversation to the more serious side of hanging out. "Not sure what I was thinking." She looked around the room and met each of their gazes individually. "You can handle yourselves can't you? Okay, we need a plan."

Faith wondered if Buffy had even heard any of the lighter conversation the rest of them were having, but she didn't ask. Faith could take a hint, well, when she wanted to.

"Surprisingly enough, B," Faith began. "I may actually have a plan." Faith saw the surprised look on everyone's face. Everyone except for Spike. He had seen Faith execute plans she had come up with and successfully too, she might add. Wouldn't be the first time he would tell her to go with her gut. She just hoped he wouldn't say it out loud. Faith couldn't help it. When B was around, B was in charge. It just worked out that way.

Faith jumped down off the cage and turned to Buffy. "Can you sense him? Can you tell where he is?" She couldn't actually see where The Master was; it was more of a feeling. Somehow Faith knew which tunnel to take and which direction to go to find him. She was hoping B had the same vibe.

Buffy stared unseeingly, not saying anything. Faith was wondering if she was ever going to answer.

"I can," she finally said. Buffy turned towards the tunnel where the previous group of vamps had come through. "He's down that way. Not far either from what I can tell." She turned back towards Faith. "Is that what you feel too?"

Faith smiled. "Damn straight, B. We must live right; someone's showing us the way. What we do when we get there... that's something else." Faith motioned for all of them to come closer.

Using a stake, she began drawing her plan in the sand.

Once everyone knew their part; and once she made sure that no one had any questions, they set off for one last time; to the heart of the hellmouth; for one last hurrah against The Master.

They hoped.


	15. Back to the Beginning Part 15 of 18

Faith replayed her plan in her head again.

"If I've learned anything, it's that baddies flock," she'd had told them, surprised that she had their undivided attention. "There seems to be two main tunnels, not counting the one we came in, and I know for a fact there's nothing much where I came from. Besides, me and B's super-senses tell us which way to go."

When had she become the plan maker for all of them? She couldn't believe it, but they had listened and they were following her plan.

Sorta.

Buffy had issues with some of it. Big surprise

But here they were, leaving Xander and Spike back in the main cavern. Faith figured they all didn't need to be together, just in case. Spike and Xander were the back up "oh-shit" plan.

So here they now were, three chicks looking for The Master.

Faith glanced over toward Buffy. She knew she needed to keep treading carefully; she felt it then, maybe even a little bit now. Faith wasn't sure, but she still thought that Buffy didn't like the idea of Willow being with them. That confused the hell out of Faith. Who wouldn't want an all-powerful witch on their side?

Then there was Spike.

Faith knew it was killing him not to go with them. He wouldn't rest until he knew she and Buffy were safe. She told him not to worry, right before they split into two groups.

"We'll be fine," she had said, matter-of-factly. She tried to forget the shocked look on his face with her sudden aloofness toward him. Every since they got into Sunnydale, she had been distancing herself from him.

Old habits die hard she supposed.

XXXXX

"How's your energy holding up, Will?" Buffy asked as they made their way deeper into the tunnel.

"I'm okay. A little tired, but I'm okay," Willow said, giving her the should-be-trademarked 'I'm fine. Really, I mean it. Don't worry about me' resolve face.

Faith was getting uncomfortable with the non-happening that was going on. If The Master wanted them so badly, where was he? Faith needed to focus on the here and now, but her thoughts kept going beyond this place. Beyond the tunnel, beyond the cavern even. In her mind, she had already left Sunnydale. And she wasn't seeing anyone with her. She silently wondered when everything had changed. Not too long ago, she and Spike had been hanging, have a good time, now all she wanted to do was get away.

Escape from all of them. Faith quickly banished the thoughts from her mind.

"Any day now, already. Where the hell is he? If I didn't still sense the numb nut, I'd think he'd left the building."

"Let's just keep moving. I still think he'll end up finding us. We're just going through the motions," Buffy said and then giggled. "Umm, in looking for him."

"What's so funny?" Faith asked.

"Going through the motions… Nothing, it's nothing. I was just remembering something." She looked at Faith. "I mean it. It's really nothing... Spike didn't tell you?"

_Oh, Spike didn't tell you?_ Faith mentally mimicked back. She had no clue what Buffy was yammering about and she didn't much care forthe'You had to be there.' vibe she was getting from B.

"Tell me what? Could you narrow down the field of possibilities a tad there, B?"

"The Dancing Demon? The one that came to Sunnydale. Xander summoned him. We all wound up singing and dancing. Going through the motions was a song… someone sang."

"No. Sorry, B. Guess we were a little busy doing other stuff." Faith said and hustled away.

Singing and dancing.

What kind of demon makes you sing and dance? Faith wondered what else they did besides sing and dance. Dancing was Faith's thing, not B's. Oh yeah, B's life has been rough. Getting it on with Spike and singing and dancing at the same time. Tough gig you got there, B.

Spike never mentioned it either. Why didn't he tell her? He told her about other stuff. Why wasn't this in among the stories about the good old days?

"Other stuff?" Buffy belted out, catching up to Faith. "What kind of other stuff?" Buffy demanded.

Faith continued walking, not bothering to answer her. Faith could have her secrets too. Let B stew on that for a while.

"So when will I know you're ready for me again?" Willow interjected, catching up to both slayers.

Faith shot her a look. Willow was obviously trying to change the subject and Faith felt herself back down. Now was not the time or the place for this.

"I already told you Willow, we'll tell you. But The Master is mine," Buffy said, not taking her eyes from Faith.

"Not making any promises, B," Faith said as they rounded another corner. "I know how much you want this, but if push comes to shove and for some flako reason you can't take him out, I will or Mama Mojo will. Not into the chance takin', okay?"

Buffy kept walking. Faith grabbed her arm and stopped her. "I said, 'Okay, B?' You're in, right? We already agreed to this."

Buffy glared at Faith. "Fine," she said, yanking her arm out of Faith's grasp and walking away.

Faith and Willow exchanged worried glances. "Girlfriend, you need to chill," Faith shouted as they ran to catch up to her. "B, I know how huge this is. Damn, Kakistos ring a bell? What is your problem?"

Buffy didn't answer; she stopped and glared at Faith instead.

"We're almost done with this," Faith continued. "I know this is going to sound freakin' bizarro coming from me, but you need to chill and take a step back. Don't go rushing in. Rather be safe than sorry and all that happy shit. Okay?"

"She's right, Buffy. The Master knows how to get to you. And yes, I know you're not the Buffy you were then, but the Buffy you are now sometimes reverts to high school Buffy when he's around. That could be dangerous for us all," Willow said, averting her eyes with her last comment.

Buffy was now glaring at both of them.

Faith noticed Willow shirking away, but Faith wasn't about to. She didn't shirk away from anything, especially when it was a do or die sitch. If B didn't chill, Faith would knock her out herself, carry her back to the boys and go on solo with Willow.

Buffy was still radiating attitude, but Faith didn't care. She was giving it right back to her, and they all knew that Faith was a little better at giving 'tude than Buffy was.

"What?" Faith asked. "You know it's true. Let's just agree once and for all and move on. Damn. We've been through this already," Faith said turning and heading further into the tunnel.

XXXXX

They walked in silence for the next ten minutes. Too bad it felt like hours.

Faith's thoughts were all over the place. One minute she was pissed at Buffy for the entire Master thing. They had all agreed on what they were doing.

Willow was going to work the mojo and flambé as many vamps as she could. Buffy and Faith would handle the rest. Spike and Xander would take out any stragglers and come to their rescue if they needed it.

The next minute she would envision B and Spike dancing while a demon was singing love songs in the background, which is what she shouldn't be thinking about. The plan, that's what should be foremost on her mind.

Granted, not the mother of all plans, but it beat just sitting around wondering what to do. Now B was acting like she had never heard any of it.

Willow's voice periodically broke the silence as she occasionally stopped to say a few magic words. Her spell was creating a trail so they could find their way out when the time came. Faith was glad Willow had come, grateful for the backup and the noise. Faith just wished they would find The Master once and for all. After that, she'd climb in her Viper and blow this hellhole. Being around all these people was beginning to make her crazy and the silence was only making it worse.

"If this wasn't yet another life and death moment, I think I'd be bored," Faith said, rounding yet another bend and redirecting her thoughts to the situation at hand. "Which way?" she asked when it branched off yet again.

Buffy stopped, brushing the loose strands out of her face. "I don't know. All this and we haven't found anything. Maybe we're wrong, maybe he's not here anymore."

"He's here, B. I can still feel him." Faith paused. "Not for real though because that would be just gross," she said, not making much out of her comment until she noticed she'd teased a small smile out of Buffy.

Well, that was something.

"So what now?" Willow asked.

"I hate to say it…" Buffy began.

"So don't," Faith said, interrupting. If Buffy was going to suggest they split up, Faith wasn't going to have any part of that, not now, not an hour from now.

"Wouldn't it be cool if we had, like, a hundred more slayers with us right now?" Willow said, changing the subject.

"A few hundred more wiccas would be golden, too," Buffy said in agreement.

"If wishes were…" Faith paused, knitting her eyebrows in confusion. "Something, then we'd all be… something else." Looking at Buffy, she added, "Sometimes I wonder why I bother."

"If wishes were horses, beggars would ride. If turnips were watches, I would wear one by my side," Willow said, beaming.

"Why would someone want a turnip at their side?" Buffy asked. "I mean a turnip of all things. How about pizza? Coffee? Cookies? Much better than a turnip."

"Thanks, B," Faith said.

"For what?"

"Now I'm starving, girlfriend. Double cheese pizza with sausage and pepperoni and those really hot peppers. And an ice-cold beer. No screw that. An entire pitcher of ice-cold beer. Or better yet, my own personal keg."

The pizza Spike had special ordered for her immediately came to mind. Where in the hell had that come from? Focus on matters at hand, Faith. Not Spike. Not pizza. Not the other stuff.

"Good thing Xander's not here," Buffy said, breaking into Faith's thoughts. "There would most definitely be drooling involved about now."

"A white chocolate mocha latte," Willow said dreamily. "How good does that sound?"

"With one of those really big blueberry muffins. With the crunchy things sprinkled all over the top?" asked Buffy. "Great, I might be having my own drool puddle."

"So let's find this dude and go eat," Faith said, meeting Buffy's waiting hand for a high-five. "How do we do that?"

"Beats me," Buffy said, shrugging. "We just do."

They had become a team again.

XXXXX

Buffy sighed. This was just too bizarre for words. She should be terrified, wondering which corner The Master would be waiting around, but all she could think about was what 'other stuff' Spike and Faith had been doing. And Willow had sided with Faith?

What was _that_ all about?

Faith and Spike? She still hadn't got her arms around that yet. If she did, she would need to deal with the fact that she had friends who had known and never told her. She knew if she thought about it too much, she'd go crazy. The Master. Spike. The tension she and Faith always seemed to have between them.

Were Faith and Spike for real or was Faith just trying to take over her life again? That one thought kept nagging at her. Did Faith even know about what had happened between Buffy and Spike? Buffy supposed on some level she did. But everything? She doubted it. She doubted Spike would've told her and she doubted even more that Faith would've asked.

Buffy had thought she missed Sunnydale. She thought that Italy would never be home. Now she wasn't so sure. Sunnydale brought back all the uncertainty that she thought she had gotten rid of. Spike was dead. Sunnydale was gone. In Italy, she had been with the people who mattered to her. The most important people in her life, actually. She had gotten on with things. With life. Moved on. And now… she had emotions crashing back on her that she hadn't felt in years.

It was true. You can't go home again, can you?

XXXXX

"How long have they been gone?" Xander asked, glancing at his watch.

"Damn it, Harris," Spike shouted. "You have the bloody watch. Why do you keep asking me?"

"Because I'm having such a wonderful time standing here, doing nothing but worrying if they'll ever come back."

"Find something to keep yourself bloody entertained then," Spike shot back.

"I don't get it," Xander said.

Spike eyed him curiously. "Get what?"

"What is it with you and slayers? You killed what, two? And now, let's just say you're not killing them anymore."

"There's the little death and… thinking that's none of your business, mate," Spike said.

"That, my friend, is where you are wrong. Buffy is one of my best friends, has been for a lot longer than you've been around. And Faith well we… once and let's just say we had a moment. Okay, a quick moment, but a moment nonetheless. And she's come through for us a lot lately."

Spike had recalled hearing murmurings of that _moment_. He still had a hard time picturing Faith with Harris. He briefly wondered why he had never asked Faith about it.

Oh, that's right, he didn't care.

"What's your point, Harris? Are you actually trying to make one?" Spike asked, slightly on edge all of a sudden.

"Guess it just doesn't make sense to me. You're all in love with Buffy; we all think you're dead. And surprise, Spike's not dead; he's in L.A., shacking up with Faith. Oh, that makes a lot of sense," Xander said.

"Still thinking it's none of your business," Spike said, moving closer to Xander to bring his point home.

Xander didn't back away. "All I'm saying it is if you hurt Buffy again…"

Spike turned away from him. "I not planning on doing that," he said.

"That's what's funny about plans, Spike. They don't always turn out the way you thought they would."

Spike was done having this conversation. It was no one's business but his and Buffy's. There was no way was he going to sit around talking about any of this with Xander bloody Harris.

Xander must've realized that Spike was done with the current topic of conversation, because he changed it. "We need to do something. We can't just sit here."

"What do you suggest?" Spike's eyebrows arched in question.

"Nothing has come out. Nothing has gone in. I say we go and look for them."

"And piss off two Slayers?" Spike said, laughing. "S'posed to be guarding the exit. Or did you not hear that li'l part of the plan?"

"My hearing is just fine," Xander said, unconsciously touching his eye patch. "You don't like sitting here and waiting any more than I do, Spike."

"So what is this plan of yours then?" Spike asked, sitting down in The Master's chair. "Just going to run off and look for them? Or do you have an actual idea?" Spike picked up the empty glass The Master had been drinking out of earlier. "Human," he muttered, setting it back down.

Spike didn't like waiting anymore than Harris did. Part of him wished he would've spoken up and told Buffy that he was coming. Once upon a time, he would've done that. Told her exactly what he was going to do, not caring what she thought. But Spike had backed off, agreed to hang back and let the Slayers do their thing. Add that to the fact that Faith was giving him the brush off… Spike figured it would be easier to just agree. He wasn't ready for a blowout with either one of them, let alone both.

Would he ever learn? Love's Bitch. That was him, wasn't it? Going after the unattainable. Thinking he could make himself the person they'd want. Where did Spike fit in all of it? Why didn't they change for him? That never happened. Maybe it was time someone did.

"Don't sit in the chair, Spike," Xander said. "Kinda creeping me out."

Spike was jostled out of his thoughts. Looking at Xander; he smiled, but didn't move. No matter what was going on around him or in him; he'd never pass up an opportunity to diss the boy.

"Fine, sit in the chair. And no, I don't have a plan. I say we follow them in. You're always bragging about those vampire senses of yours, how you can smell them. Can I say just how wrong that is? But you'll be able to tell which way they went." Xander walked over to Spike and looked him dead in the eyes. "I cannot wait anymore. Physically, it is not possible. Do you understand that?" Xander paused, a thoughtful expression coming to his face. "Does the word trap come to mind?"

"What?"

"If The Master is in here, and he needs Buffy and Faith, what better way to get them? Just lead them further and further into the hellmouth."

Spike didn't answer immediately, resisting the urge to jump out of the chair and tear down the corridor. Part of Spike had wanted to go after them all along, but he didn't want Harris to know that. For some reason, he felt like he had to be the calm, cool and collected one. A trap? Now that was a new twist. What if Harris was right?

"Let's go," Spike said standing up.

XXXXX

"Did you hear that?" Buffy asked, stopping in her tracks.

"I didn't hear anything," Willow said.

"Shhhh," Faith said. "I heard it too. It's coming from behind us."

"Stay here," Buffy said, as she made her way back. "It could be a trap."

"Like I'm staying here." Faith rushed to catch up with Buffy, whispering back over her shoulder, "Willow stay. Hide. We'll be back."

"Anything?" Buffy asked as Faith caught up to her.

"Nope," Faith said, pausing. "Wait. Yes. I think…"

It was him. She should've known he wouldn't stay where he was supposed to. Faith didn't want him around. It was becoming too distracting when he was around. Who was she kidding? He was distracting even when he wasn't around.

Damn it!

"You bloody well should know," Spike said, coming around the corner with Xander not too far behind, "that it was us."

"What are you doing here?" Buffy said, obviously pissed. "Do you ever listen?"

"Not our fault, Buff," Xander said. "There was a lot of nothing going on. We thought it might be a trap. Figured we'd come and help."

"Trap?" Faith asked, somewhat shocked.

"I was thinking The Master might be leading you further and further into the hellmouth. If he needs you that bad, let him come and get you."

"What do you suggest?" Faith asked.

"I say we leave," Xander said.

"Isn't that like the second brilliant Harris idea in one day?" Spike asked, looking surprised.

Buffy smiled. "That's our Xander. It's been fun, but we're leaving. Right, Faith?"

"B, that's the best idea I've heard, well, in the last five minutes anyway." Faith said.

"Where's Willow?" Xander asked.

"Up ahead a few, told her to hang. You two made enough noise to wake the dead, I tell ya," Faith said with a big smile.

"Not thinking waking dead guys would be a good part of the plan," Xander said.

"Well, that would depend on what dead-guy you're referring to, now wouldn't it?" Spike said. "And why you would want to wake him."

Faith did her best not to glance at him. There had been this one time, when he was sleeping…

What the hell are you doing? Stop already. Get control of your brain.

"I'll go back and get Willow," Buffy said. "You guys wait here."

"I'll come with," Xander said.

XXXXX

Faith watched as Buffy and Xander made their way around the bend, not wanting to chance a look in Spike's direction.

"Faith?" Spike asked.

"Yep," Faith said, still not looking at him.

"You okay?"

"Five by five," Faith said, glancing back quickly, using her ever-ready line. She wasn't ready to get into some huge discussion with Spike. The longer they were alone, the bigger the chance it might happen, well on some level anyway. Faith hadn't realized it until now, but ever since the day Spike had brought her back to Buffy's, they hadn't been truly alone together. Had she intentionally maneuvered it that way?

She was distancing herself from him even now. Question was, what was she going to do about it?

XXXXX

"You doing okay, Buff?" Xander asked, rounding the next corner.

"I'm fine. Tired of course. You know me. All slayage all the time makes for a tired Slayer. Especially one who thought she was retired. Or at least gone part-time."

"This will be over soon, I hope," Xander said, looking around. "I thought you said Will was here?"

Buffy's confusion evolved into fear. "We did. Right here. See," she said, pointing. "That's the last mystical breadcrumb Willow left for our getaway. There aren't anymore ahead of us."

Buffy clamped her hand over Xander's mouth before he could call out for Willow. "Do you hear that?" she asked, taking a step forward.

"What?"

"Footsteps and not just a pair." Buffy knew it wasn't Willow. "They're coming!"

"We go back _now_," Xander said, turning around.

They both began to run.

XXXXX

"You're not talking to me now?" Spike demanded.

Faith didn't want to face him. She didn't want to look at him; she had every line of his face etched in her memory. She knew how he would look if he were happy, sad, indifferent, or royally pissed off. Faith guessed he was not quite to royally pissed of yet, but the look of longing would be there. The wanting to know what she was thinking, feeling, going through at the moment and it felt too much like much pressure.

"Didn't say I wasn't talking to you, just a little busy trying to save everyone's ass at the moment."

Spike grabbed her arm and spun her around, making her face him.

"So you choose now to play the bitch? Is that what this is?"

Faith yanked her arm free. "Let go!" She didn't want him touching her. It created too many mixed feelings for her, which was no good because Faith had pretty much made up her mind what her future held. And Spike wasn't part of it.

"There wasn't a 'this' until you copped your lil 'tude, in case you hadn't noticed."

"After this, we're done." She saw the confusion hit his face, but she didn't care. Her mouth was saying words so fast they barely had time to connect to her brain. "'We' as in you and me, Spike. When we leave here, I'm going my way and you're going yours."

Before Spike could respond, Buffy came around the corner. "Willow's missing and I think we're going to have company really soon."


	16. Back to the Beginning Part 16 of 18

"Right there with you, B," Faith said, walking toward Buffy, putting space between her and Spike. "So what's the plan?"

"Faith!" Spike called out.

Faith didn't bother turning around or even acknowledging him. She knew she had dismissed him, but she didn't have any other choice.

If her mouth would've stopped when she wanted it to, she could've waited until this entire Master thing was over and then just snuck off in the middle of the night, no confrontation and no one the wiser.

What was she thinking? Why did she say something now, of all times? Somewhere along the line, Faith had forgotten who she was. She didn't explain herself to men. She didn't shack up with them for more than a night either. The old Faith would've left; Spike would've realized it was over without some big discussion and he would've gone on with his life.

Faith had blown it.

She was so caught up in her own thing she hadn't noticed Buffy staring at her. "What?"

"You're with me, right?" Buffy asked.

Faith couldn't get a bead on Buffy's expression. "Of course. Why wouldn't I be?" Faith answered, not expecting a reply.

"I don't have time for," Buffy nodded toward Spike, "whatever is going on between you two. It's not my problem and you're not going to make it everyone else's. No distractions."

Faith crinkled her face in disbelief. "Who said anything about being distracted?"

"Good…" Buffy began.

"My girls."

Faith and Buffy spun around simultaneously. And there they were; at least fifty of the undead-brain-dead coming towards them, with The Master in the lead.

"Here we go," Buffy said.

"Yep," Faith added

Buffy turned and looked at Xander. "When this starts, stay back."

"I wish I knew where Willow was," Xander said quietly to Spike. "Do you think…?"

"Wishes are for wankers and nancy boys," Spike mumbled, as he closed ranks behind Buffy.

"Your girls?" Faith took a step forward and motioned towards her chest. "You talking about these girls? Cause I never figured you for a tit man."

"Enough! The time has come and frankly, I'm tired of waiting. You two are going to die, and I will rise once and for all. That is all there is to it," The Master said matter-of-factly. "I have waited long enough and I'm not waiting any longer. Maybe I will even turn one of you. That would make things… interesting."

"From what I hear, B had your minions on the run the last time," Faith said, remembering what Buffy had told her when they first met.

He motioned towards his group of fledglings. "These are not ordinary vampires. They are all my vessels. They are stronger than the others were and they will take you down. I told you I will not be defeated."

The group of vampires began moving in.

Faith and Buffy simultaneously retrieved their stakes and took their battle stances. Spike wasn't far behind in his retrieval. Xander grabbed a stake of his own and then ducked behind a crevice in the wall.

XXXXX

_Oh man! Oh man!_ Willow thought as she heard the scene unravel.

After Faith and Buffy had gone back for the others, she had gone further up the trail to find somewhere to hide. She had stumbled across a small cranny off the main path. Well, if you could call it a cranny. It was a deep crack in the wall that hid her entire body. She had made it just in time. She was no more into the dust-filled nook when The Master and his followers appeared and passed right by her.

Now here she was, literally stuck between a rock and a hard place. Willow was afraid to come out and reveal her location to any stragglers. On the other hand, it looked like the entire bunch of hooligans had made their way around the bend, heading towards her friends.

She knew she could take them all out. She _knew_ it. Willow Rosenberg taking out the Master of All Vampires, leaving none of the fight for the slayers. But Buffy said she wanted The Master for herself. Maybe she'd give her the chance? Or maybe she shouldn't? Maybe she should just end it all now before someone got hurt or worse yet, before someone got dead.

Willow also knew how powerful she was, in a good way, not the black-veiny-going-to-kill-all-my-friends-and-destroy-the-world kind of way. She hadn't tapped into the white power since the last time she was on the hellmouth. Who would've thought all that good could be born so close to a place that was so irrevocably bad? The scythe had been the source of the power, the goodness. Could she muster that much good power on her own? Could she summon what she needed without going back to the darkness that had almost consumed her?

What had the coven taught her? One doesn't use magic for personal gain. This was so not personal gain. What else? Dark magic comes from a place of pain and hatred. Was Willow feeling pain and hate at the moment? No she wasn't. A little scared, maybe. Okay a lot scared, but she wasn't anywhere near the place she had been then.

This was what her talent was supposed to be used for, to fight, to help out Buffy and the other Slayers, to help avert disasters that seemed to be waiting around every corner, especially when the Hellmouth was involved.

Could she actually do this? Could she actually take matters into her own hands and stop an apocalypse all by herself? Save them all? Waltz right into the next cavern, announce her presence, say a few magic words and make all the bad guys disappear?

Where was Xander when she needed him? A little moral support right now would be good.

"Here goes nothing," Willow exclaimed, starting to extract herself from her hiding place. "Willow, army of one, reporting for duty."

Willow couldn't move. Her foot was stuck. "Oh! That's not good."

XXXXX

"Any ideas, B?" Faith asked quietly as they watched the demons approach.

Buffy shook her head. "There's too many of them." She glanced quickly over her shoulder as they all began backing up towards the main cavern. "We could retreat totally, but I don't know where Willow is. I can't leave her, Faith."

"I'll look for her," Xander said, joining them. "You keep them busy. Outside flanking position is mine. I'll find her."

"No way, Xander," Buffy said quickly.

"I know where her trail ends. If I don't find her right away, I'll hide like a good boy until it's safe to come back to you guys."

"If you're gonna do something, you bloody well better do it now," Spike interrupted.

That's when Faith realized that the first wave of vamps were almost on them.

"Go, Xander," Buffy said, her gaze steady on him. "Find her and stay alive. I won't be able to deal if anything happens to either one of you."

Xander smiled. "Thinking the feeling's mutual, Buff." He took off to the right, away from them and the onslaught that was quickly approaching.

Faith noticed a couple of demons going directly after him. Without thinking, she started running, flipping over the two that were almost on him. She landed not a foot away. She turned, stake in her hand, dusting them both.

More of the undead came after both Faith and Xander. The almost well-timed vampire advance was ruined by a bloodlust only a vampire could know.

Spike and Buffy fell into the familiar pattern of attack they had perfected so long ago, each of them staking demons so fast they could barely distinguish anything in the steady stream of dust that was flying.

Faith glanced at them. They seemed so natural together. Where one was vulnerable, the other was there, ready to lend a hand. They never even looked at each other. It was like some sixth sense had developed in their slaying style. Faith wondered how long she and Spike would need to be together to develop that type of rhythm.

Somewhere in the distance Faith heard The Master shout, "I want the Slayers alive. The rest do not concern me."

That was all she needed to hear. She dusted anything that moved, making sure to keep her eye on Xander the best she could. Xander, for the record, wasn't doing too badly himself.

Faith wasn't sure who was the first to fall. One minute there was a flurry of fighting, dodging, jumping and dusting. The next she was being pinned to the ground by a group of vampires that had her face in the dirt. Spike was being held, still standing, but barely. She cringed when she saw all the damage that had been done to him. One of his eyes was swollen shut, his upper lip was bleeding and it looked like they had broken one of his arms.

So this is what happens when you're outnumbered by souped up vamps.

As Faith struggled to get away, she glanced to her left and saw that Buffy was also pinned. She wasn't looking too good either. She had a cut above her left eye and a gash on her cheek. She was sporting the same split in her lip that Spike had. Faith unconsciously licked her bottom lip and found the same thing; the taste of blood and dust was unmistakable.

But where was Xander? Faith looked around the best she could and didn't see him anywhere.

"You will never learn," The Master said.

Faith looked up and saw him approaching Buffy.

"Why do I feel like I keep repeating myself?" he asked, kicking Buffy in the head. "If you would just do what you're supposed to, we'd be done by now. I told you they were my vessels. You are no match for them."

Faith grimaced when Buffy winced in pain, which lasted briefly before Buffy finally succumbed to it and passed out.

"Big tough fuck!" Faith yelled, struggling against her captors, her fury rising up inside her like a volcano ready to erupt. "You're so tough when you got a group of assholes following your every order. Try taking us on yourself and see how long you last."

"I would say it was unfortunate that we never got better acquainted, but I'd be lying," said The Master, his attention turned to Faith. He grabbed her up by the hair, ripping some of it out in the process.

Faith was no longer on the ground, face in the dirt. She was being suspended by her hair, face-to-face with the vampire. Her arms now free, on autopilot, Faith scrabbled at The Master's birdlike fingers, trying to unravel her hair. Faith thought she heard Spike yell something, but she couldn't be sure. The pain was too intense to focus on much of anything.

It changed so suddenly, Faith wasn't sure what actually had happened, but she was no longer suspended by her hair. The Master now had her by the neck. Flashes of Kakistos flooded her mind. For a moment, she panicked and couldn't move. Then she began thrashing again, desperate to get away from him as quickly as possible.

"Your time will come, Slayer. You can count on it." And with that, The Master threw Faith roughly across the passageway into the farthest wall. Her entire body went numb from the pain of the impact and she slid to the floor like a tossed away rag doll.

_Hey Xander, there you are,_ Faith thought as she fell against him.

XXXXX

Willow crept close enough to see what was happening, and the scene in front of her scared her more than anything had in a very long time. She swallowed hard, trying not to lose her resolve.

She tried tapping into Spike's head without success. He was too out of it to acknowledge her. The others, well, she didn't even bother. Telepathy didn't work on the unconscious... or dead.

She didn't need to strain to hear The Master.

"Take the Slayers and prepare them," he shouted to his minions. "You two, take the others and dispose of them. The rest of you, follow me." He began walking the opposite way, towards the cavern they had first come in.

The Master didn't know she was here. For once Willow was glad she'd been overlooked. She watched as a group of vamps hoisted both Buffy and Faith to their feet, neither one of them gaining consciousness, and dragged them towards the corridor down which The Master had just disappeared.

The vamps left behind with Xander and Spike began their task of disposal. When The Master had spoken those words, a shudder had run through Willow's body; now it was threatening to happen again.

She was not going to let fear control her.

"I wouldn't do that," she said nervously, stepping out of the shadows. "Those are my friends and I get mighty cranky when people try to mess with them."

Xander and Spike forgotten, the two turned their attention to her.

Willow smiled, her confidence slowly growing.

"Life to Death

Death to Life

Ashes in Death

Now in Life."

Before either vamp knew what had hit them, they were no more.

Willow ran to Xander, who was beginning to come to.

"Anyone get the license plate of that truck?" he asked, rubbing the back of his head.

"Nope," Willow said, going to her knees. "But I don't think it'll be back. Are you okay? Can you stand?" she asked, wrapping her arms around him and helping him to his feet. "Guess that answered my question." She smiled.

Xander staggered briefly. "It's true," he said, "this does get old."

"Don't worry about me. I'm fine, really" Spike said, rising to his feet, unattended. "I didn't need to use both my arms anyway."

"Sorry, Spike," Willow said. "Vampire and all. Figured since you weren't dust, you'd be fine." She walked over to him, taking her belt off in the process. "Here, use this."

"No problem, Red. Give me a couple weeks." Spike moved his broken arm using the belt as a makeshift sling and wincing in the process. "Scratch that, a couple months and I'll be good as new." Spike glanced around, fear replacing the pained look on his face, his eyes shifting immediately back to Willow.

"The Master has them," she said, answering the unasked question. "Back in the main cavern. I don't know how much time we have. We need to go now." Willow looked at Xander. "You ready?"

"Let's go," Xander said and the three of them took off.

Willow, Xander and Spike slowed their approach as they got closer. They had come this far; they didn't want to take the chance of being caught now.

"Stay here," Spike said as he quietly made his way to the opening of the cave, limping in the process. Willow watched as he scanned the room quickly and came back to them. "Big guy's in his chair. They fixed the cage; chains this time, both of them are there."

"Are they okay?" Xander asked hopefully.

"Looks like it," Spike said. "They're awake anyway. Look a little beat up, besides that…"

Willow knew it was now or never. Otherwise Spike or Xander would try to come up with something to save Buffy and Faith. But there already was a plan; a plan that was hers and hers alone. She needed her resolve face, now more than ever, she just hoped that neither one of them would give her a hard time. She was on edge enough. Add that to the fact that she wasn't quite sure she could pull it off…

"I'll get them out," Willow said.

Xander and Spike looked at her. Xander looked shocked. Spike looked intrigued.

"You will?" Spike said.

"Yes. I have it figured out. I'm going to use a, okay, a really big spell I have been researching, and I think I can pull it off. If I do, neither one of you will need to do anything. I actually thought about it awhile ago, before the big," she indicated over her shoulder, "fight fest, except now I won't need to worry about you two getting hurt. You both need to stay here." She paused, catching her breath. "This, come to think of it, works out much better - especially for you, Spike."

"And why is that?" he asked.

"Cause if it works the way I think it will, you'd be dusted with the rest of them."

"Will," Xander began, "Are you sure? You keep saying you 'think' it will work. What if it doesn't?"

Willow thought for a moment. Confidence flowed through her. She could do it; she knew she could do it. Willow wasn't sure where the knowledge that she would succeed came from, but she wasn't going to question it.

"I'm sure. Stand back and watch," she said, smiling and heading towards the main cavern.

Xander glanced nervously at Spike.

"Don't look at me," Spike said. "She's a bloody super witch." Spike turned to watch her. "And I think she can do it," he confirmed quietly.

XXXXX


	17. Back to the Beginning Part 17 of 18

As Buffy lay uncomfortably on her side, she thought she heard someone talking to her. She was sleeping, damn it. And when did her bed get so hard? She never got to sleep anymore and now someone was trying to wake her up. She slowly opened her eyes, wondering why she was having such a hard time focusing and, sheesh, why did her head hurt so bad?

"You okay, B? Wake up already."

Faith? Why was Faith in her bedroom? Why was Faith bugging her yet again? Reality came crashing rudely back. Buffy quickly sat up and immediately regretted it, both hands flying to her aching head.

"How long was I out?" she asked, closing her eyes.

"Not exactly wearing a watch here," Faith said. "Guess the fun's about to start. The natives are getting restless."

Buffy finally opened her eyes again. The cavern was a blur of activity. There were vampires rushing around everywhere. Buffy tried to figure out exactly what they were doing, but couldn't focus long enough for any of it to make sense, besides it made her all dizzy. Did it really matter? Whatever it was couldn't be good. The Master was sitting back in his chair; at least she figured it was The Master. Between the pain in her head and seeing two of everything, Buffy wasn't sure of anything.

"Kinda wishing I was still passed out."

"Seeing your point," Faith said.

Buffy finally looked at her, focusing to the best of her ability. "Tell me I don't look at bad as you do."

Faith was a mess. She had dried blood across her forehead that looked like it had trickled down from her scalp, scratches and small abrasions were all over her face, and her lip wasn't looking all that great either.

Faith laughed softly. "B, you look worse than I do."

Buffy closed her eyes and sighed, bringing her hands up to her face, feeling the various bumps and scrapes she herself had suffered. Her eyes sprang open. "What about the others?"

The smile quickly vanished from Faith's battered face as she shook her head. "Don't know. Lights got turned out on me too."

"Ahh, you're awake. We can start," The Master said. "There wouldn't be any fun in doing this if you didn't know it was happening, slayer." The Master motioned for the cage and a group of at least twelve demons came forward and began undoing the chains. "Bring me the dark one first."

Buffy glanced at Faith, catching the fear that registered there only briefly.

"Looks like I'm the lucky one," Faith said, moving closer to Buffy. Buffy took Faith's hand and held it tight.

"We'll get out of this, Faith," Buffy said. "Trust me." Buffy hoped she sounded surer than she felt. Neither she nor Faith was in any shape to take on an army of vamps and The Master. She doubted they could take on anything at this point.

"Yes, you are the lucky one," The Master said. "I will drain you. Then I will drain her. One at a time; no pomp and no circumstance; no rituals, nothing. A simple drink for me, not so simple for you, because you'll be dead and I'll be beyond powerful."

"Not as powerful as me."

Buffy spun around, making her head hurt that much more and stared at the Willow shape. It had to be Willow. She'd know that voice anywhere.

"What is this?" The Master asked, standing.

Buffy didn't need to see well to know that he'd been caught off guard. That would make two of them. Buffy turned back to Willow. She willed her eyes to work, shaking her head and rubbing her hands across them. Willow finally came into focus. Thank God! Buffy studied Willow's face and recognized the look.

It sent a shiver through her.

Willow was staring hard at The Master. As she spoke, her eyes grew darker and darker. She was slowly rising off the ground. With each word Willow uttered, the intensity of her voice increased and the higher she levitated.

Memories of Dark Willow flashed before Buffy's eyes and she found herself pleading, "No Willow, don't." To be honest with herself, Buffy was still a little afraid of Willow and her magic and Giles wasn't around to help this time.

As Willow's voice rang out, Buffy closed her eyes and whispered a silent prayer.

"I invoke the power of the good

In caverns deep, hail mighty Sun,

Ruler of day

Rise to light

I take your power in my hands

Move and redirect the energy in me

Help shape and build the ultimate power

I call on the Powers of Sun

I call on the Elements of Fire

To the Spirits of all good

To the Gods and Goddesses

Come hear my plea

Empower me."

Willow was radiating. Buffy and Faith shielded their eyes from the sudden brilliance that filled the room. Painful memories of the last time the Hellmouth was this brightly lit filled Buffy's thoughts. Her heart couldn't take it if Willow was consumed by darkness again, if they lost her forever.

Buffy willed her eyes open, fighting against the urge to close them. She didn't care about the pain. After awhile, she didn't even notice it. She had missed Willow's magic then, she wasn't going to miss it now. What she saw her best friend accomplishing was amazing.

Amid the light emanating from Willow, Buffy could see a shadow rising upwards. It began to spin; becoming a vortex that whirled so fast it created a dust tornado in the middle of the cavern. Buffy narrowed her eyes to slits and watched as the tip of the vortex burrowed itself into the stone, dirt, and mud, creating an opening.

Finally breaking through the surface, sunlight blasted into the cave.

The vampires finally realized what Willow was doing. Up until that moment, they had been in awe. As awareness turned to fear, they scattered, trying to find somewhere to hide from the brightness.

They didn't get far.

Faster than Buffy could imagine, Willow pointed to each tunnel, corridor, and path.

"Adoperie!" Willow cried.

Each one sealed shut, eliminating any chance at escape. There was nothing the vamps could do, and no place for them to go. A chain reaction began, all turning to dust.

"Noooo," shouted The Master.

Buffy could barely see him through all the dust and dirt that was flying, but she knew what was happening. The Master himself wasn't powerful enough to survive Willow's power. He, too, slowly turned to dust, his ashes mixing with everything else.

In the end, he was no better than the rest of them.

XXXXX

Willow scanned the room to make sure The Master was nowhere to be seen. There weren't any demons left standing either. She whispered, pointing toward the cage. The chains dropped to the ground. Buffy and Faith were up and out in no time.

Once Willow knew they were vampire free and that the cavern wasn't closing in on itself, she focused inward on the magic. She willed it to release her and felt most of it retreat to where it had originated.

"I did it," Willow said to herself. "I did it!" Louder this time.

Buffy ran up to Willow, hugging her tightly. "Willow!"

"Did you see that, Buffy?" Willow exclaimed. She couldn't be sure but she thought Buffy was crying. "I'm sorry, Buffy. I know you wanted The Master for yourself. But I had to do it." Willow felt Buffy pull away from her.

"You think I'm mad?" asked Buffy, shaking her head. "Oh my god, Willow I'm not mad. I am so proud of you. Look at you," Buffy said, wiping a tear away that had made one clean patch down her cheek. "You are spectacular. I didn't get to see it before, with the scythe and the slayer thing, but I saw it this time. You are… You are…"

"Da witch?" Willow provided, smiling.

Buffy laughed. "At least that."

Willow saw Faith approaching. She couldn't be sure, but she thought Faith looked a little uncomfortable.

"Little Miss_ Light My Fire_ did it," Faith said, smiling. "You did good. Real good."

"I did, didn't I? And I didn't go grrr!" Willow said, matching both Buffy and Faith's smiles. Willow's grin quickly faded. "Xander and Spike. I forgot all about them."

"Where are they?" Buffy and Faith asked in unison.

Willow mouthed a few words and gestured; the hole she had created in the Hellmouth closed back up and the passages unsealed. "Down there," she said.

Buffy, Faith and Willow took off running. Spike and Xander emerged from the passage before they crossed the cavern.

"Okay, someone want to explain to me what just happened?" Xander asked.

"Willow's da Witch," said Faith, glancing at her. "Da wicked good Witch."

"The Master?" Spike asked.

"Dusty. Poof! They're all gone. Willow got them all," Buffy said beaming.

Spike smiled. "Told you so, Harris."

"And not a moment too soon either," Xander said. "Being stuck with whiney over there is enough to make anyone crazy. 'My arm hurts'. 'Wonder what's going on out there?' 'I wish I could see something.' 'Bugger this.' Talk about torture."

"I don't whine!" Spike exclaimed. "Come over here and I'll make you bloody whine, though."

"There will be no whining already," Buffy said. "There's no time. We need to get out of here."

"Little too bright out there for me, pet," Spike said. "But it's getting near sunset."

"I don't know about you, but I am more than ready to get out of this cave," Faith said. "Had about enough of this place to last a lifetime."

Buffy glanced at Willow. "Do you mind waiting here with Xander and Spike while Faith and I take a peek outside?"

"No. Could use a little rest I think," Willow said.

"Okay, wait here." Buffy turned to Faith. "Coming with?"

"Right behind you, B."


	18. Back to the Beginning Conclusion

The state of California had quietly filled in the huge crater that had once been Sunnydale. Faith wasn't sure when, all she knew was it must have happened sometime after they had all left on that school bus. Then The Master had shown up, making it his own yet again.

Since Joyce's SUV was part of the glamour, Faith and Buffy never even bothered to look for it. The only transportation they had was Faith's Viper, which they had left at Buffy's house. So they did the only thing they had left to do, they walked.

By the time they reached what had once been Revello drive, it was flat out dark. Using the headlights from the Viper, they both scrounged around looking for anything of theirs they could find. Luck was on their side and clothing was to be had by all.

Exhausted, they made their way back into the cavern.

"Where in the bloody hell have you been?" Spike demanded.

"Where do you think we've been?" Faith shot back.

"Did you find the car?" Xander asked expectantly.

"Damn straight we found it," Faith said.

"How?" Willow asked.

"Come on."

Willow, Xander, Buffy and Spike all followed her. After stumbling their way out, she pressed the panic button on her key chain. The lights started flashing and horn started blaring.

"It was at B's house. Where B's house would be if it was there … Anyway, we were close, but it was too dark to see. Then I remembered these babies," she said holding up her keys. "Can anyone say 'shining like a fuckin' beacon'?"

Xander rushed up to Faith, placing his hands on her shoulders. "Bless you."

Faith laughed. "I'd say that's the first time I heard that, but I'd be lying." She winked at Xander.

"I say we get in and get out of here," Buffy suggested. "Looks like you're getting your parade-waving wish Xander."

Xander nodded in agreement. "Sitting on the back and doing the wave… See? All good things do come to those who wait."

"I suggest we hurry then. Vampires and convertibles, not the best of pals, especially when the bright-n-shiny makes an appearance," Spike added.

"Buffy?" Willow asked, pointing to the opening they had just come out.

"Do it," Buffy said.

XXXXX

"Where the hell is it?" Faith mumbled as she rummaged through the trunk of her car. "Finally!" she said grabbing a wad of cash. "That'll work," she told the others.

Faith made a beeline to the hotel's front desk. "We need three rooms," she told the clerk, slamming the cash down on the counter.

"Three rooms?" Xander questioned on their way out of the office.

"What? You wanna share with me," Faith asked, nudging him. "Relax already. I'm just messing. The boys get a room and the girls get a room."

"And the third room is yours?" Spike asked.

"I'm paying, aren't I?" Faith tossed keys to Buffy. "Yo, there will be a 'Do Not Disturb' sign on my door for like a month." She walked away.

"We're not staying here that long, are we?" Willow asked nervously.

Buffy shook her head. "Doubtful." She glanced towards Faith's retreating form. Buffy wanted to talk to Faith, but now wasn't the time. Looking at her motley crew, Buffy knew they were all exhausted, dirty, and hungry.

Tomorrow. She'd talk to Faith tomorrow.

XXXXX

Faith stood in the shower, grateful that there wasn't a hot water tank she could deplete. Every square inch of her was tired, dirty, and sore. She about jumped out of her skin when the hot water first touched her scalp.

Reluctantly, she climbed out, dressing into fresher clothes. The ones she had been wearing had already found their way into the trash. Faith was just glad they had found what they did. She was the lucky one; her things were still basically in her bag, unharmed. B and the others? Well, they had unpacked everything. They had to search around, finding empty suitcases and shoving the dust filled clothes back into them.

Faith wasn't anywhere near a point where she could actually fall asleep. She was way too wound and way too hungry. Going out and trying to find something to eat would involve people, and right now she didn't want to deal with anybody.

Not quite sure what she was going to do next, Faith turned on the radio that was sitting on the dresser. Static blared out at her and she fiddled with the dial. If she needed anything now, it was the distraction of the noise. All the quiet got on her nerves and made her antsy.

_I wanted you to know I love the way you laugh_

_I wanna hold you high and steal your pain away_

Room service! She could deal with someone bringing her food. Faith started rummaging through the desk drawer, looking for a room service menu, which probably didn't exist, but hey, a girl's gotta check, right?

Before she could put the Gideon's Bible back, there was a knock at the door.

'_Cause I'm broken when I'm lonesome_

_And I don't feel right when you're gone away_

"Psychic room service," Faith mumbled on her way to the door.

_You've gone away_

_You don't feel me here anymore_

Faith never bothered to check to see who was on the other side of the door, figuring it really didn't matter. Whatever they wanted or whoever they were, she could handle it. Faith could handle just about anything.

_The worst is over now and we can breathe again_

_I wanna hold you high, you steal my pain away_

_There's so much left to learn, and no one left to fight_

Okay, anything but this, she noted, having gotten a look at her visitor.

"Hey," she said. Spike just looked at her. "Not like you need an invite, come in already." Faith stepped inside while Spike made his way past.

'_Cause I'm broken when I'm open _

_And I don't feel like I am strong enough_

"Was going to get something to eat," she continued. "I am starving. Course I can't find a room service menu. And no, that doesn't surprise me," Faith said, heading towards the nightstand drawer.

Faith heard a rustling behind her and turned to see Spike reaching into the pocket of his duster with his good arm, grabbing something out and handing it to her.

"What is this?" she asked, taking the package in her hand. "You brought me a hoagie?" she asked, unwrapping it.

'_Cause I'm broken when I'm lonesome_

_And I don't feel right when you're gone away_

"Knew you'd be hungry. Ran into the truck stop that borders this place," he said.

'_Cause I'm broken when I'm lonesome_

_And I don't feel right when you're gone away_

Faith smiled. "Damn! Look at this thing. Steak and cheese and… no onions huh?" she asked, sneaking in a quick glance at him.

Whenever Spike had gotten them something to eat, he never got onions. Which really didn't make much sense to Faith, vampire's sense of taste not being all that great. Spike always said he could smell them too. But how good could his sniffer be if he doesn't breathe? Whenever she'd ask him about it, he would try to explain it all to her. It just never made much sense.

Then she would bring up the bloomin onion, trying to score a point and all and he'd say they didn't count.

Why didn't they count? It was an onion wasn't it? Okay, a batter-soaked-deep-fried onion, but still a fuckin' onion… hence the entire 'onion debate'.

Over time, she had gotten used to it, gotten used to him bringing her something to eat after slaying… minus the onions, unless it was bloomin'.

"Thanks," she finally said.

_You've gone away_

_You don't feel me here anymore_

"Don't mention it, pet."

Faith turned off the radio; it was distracting for some reason. She took her sandwich and sat down at the small table in the corner of the room, noticing that Spike hadn't moved from his place just inside the door.

"Sit down. You're making me nervous." He glanced uncertainly at the bed, the only seat left in the room. "Just sit," she said.

Faith ate in silence, making every bite count. She was afraid that if there wasn't food in her mouth, she might start talking and she didn't want to do that. She wanted to play it calm, cool, but knew the façade wouldn't last past the last bite of her steak sandwich.

Finally finishing, she crumpled up the paper and tossed it into the garbage can.

"Heads up," called Spike.

Thankfully, her slayer reflexes acted before her head figured out what he was doing. Faith found an ice-cold beer in her hand.

"This rocks," she said, smiling. "Thanks."

She watched as Spike pulled another out from his other pocket. Faith noticed that this one wasn't as easy to get to since he couldn't use the arm closest to it.

"You can have this one too," he said when he finally maneuvered it out.

Faith stood and took the beer from his hand. "Thanks. How's the arm?"

For the briefest of moments, Faith felt Spike's fingers brush hers, sending tremors all the way down to her toes. She tried to blow it off.

Yes, so they hadn't actually… in awhile. And she was afraid of what would happen if they progressed beyond that simple touch. Faith knew what could happen. It had happened more times then she could count right now. She had distanced herself. One slip up…

The thought was never finished. One moment she was thinking of kissing Spike and then next moment, he was kissing her. Her body reacted to his touch like it had done in the past, with all of her senses coming alive.

The smell of him, the taste of him, the everything of him flooded her thoughts. Knowing that when she woke he'd be there, knowing that he always had her back covered, knowing that he could make her feel things, not just physically, things that she never allowed herself to feel before, knowing that sometimes she had lowered her defenses, letting him in almost totally. Knowing she'd never do it again after today.

All her longing, all of her caring, all of her heartache was being poured into one kiss, their last kiss.

Faith pulled away.

"This is really done, isn't it?" Spike asked, sitting back down on the edge of the bed.

"Kinda is," she said, sitting down next to him.

"Care to tell me the why?"

Faith couldn't look at him anymore. She found her eyes drawn to a black piece of string that was curled up on the bottom of her pant leg. If she concentrated on the string, she could ignore the moisture that was beginning to gather in her eyes.

Damn it.

Faith didn't cry, especially over men. This was different. Spike wasn't your ordinary man and when Faith was with him, she didn't feel ordinary either.

"This isn't me," she finally said, trying to keep her voice from cracking.

Spike took her chin gently in his hand, forcing her to look at him. "You've been saying that all along. And I've been saying all along love, gotta do better than that."

Faith felt the tears, felt them sitting there, just waiting for their opportunity to spill, to embarrass her, to make her feel weak.

"I'm not ready," she said quietly.

How was she going to explain this to him? If he knew her at all, he would've known this was coming. She didn't want to explain it to him. She couldn't. She wasn't sure she totally understood it herself.

"You'll need to stop running one day, Faith," he said softly.

Faith wiped her nose with the back of her hand. "But not today." She saw the defeat in Spike's eyes. "I didn't want to hurt you."

"Not your fault. Knew it was coming. Love's bitch, you know," he said with a slight smile.

Faith looked at him and smiled. "Not sure I'd be advertising that."

Spike's smile wavered and then disappeared completely. "What are you going to do now?"

"Go somewhere. Still got the wheels." Faith smiled weakly. "S'pose I should make sure B and the gang get a ride to where they're going first. Probably take off after that."

"She called Giles. He's sending a car to take them to the airport tomorrow afternoon sometime."

"Tomorrow afternoon? What about you?"

"Going back to L.A. Still got a little unfinished business there… the whole being back, still not sure what's that's all about," Spike said. "And I'm sure tall, dark and forehead is missing me by now."

"Buffy?" Faith asked, wishing she could take it back. It wouldn't really matter how he answered it. One of them was going to feel hurt, rejected on some level. Faith couldn't help it. She needed to know what was going to happen when she wasn't around anymore.

"We talked a little bit," Spike said, not volunteering anything else.

"You two okay?"

Spike was thoughtful for a minute. "I think we will be, yeah."

"When are you leaving?" Faith asked, suddenly concerned.

Spike stood up. "About now. Came to say goodbye and to bring you dinner. Know what that slaying thing does to you." Spike smiled.

"You would know better than anybody, wouldn't you?" Faith said, standing up herself.

"S'pect I would."

"I never meant to hurt you," Faith said again, feeling like she needed to make sure he knew that.

"I know," he said, giving her a quick peck on the cheek and turning for the door. "Not your fault. Pretty sure it has a lot to do with who I am too pet. S'pect I might need to work on that a bit myself."

"How you going to get there?"

"Vampires got their ways." Spike smiled and walked out the door.

XXXXX

After Spike had left, Faith sat back on the bed, wondering if she had done the right thing. Noticing her abandoned beer, she cracked it open and drank the entire thing in one swig. The second one was quick to follow.

Lying back, she was unsurprised that she was back in the same place she always seemed to wind up, alone in a hotel room. As she rolled over on her side, she recognized that something was different.

Faith didn't really feel alone.

She had… friends? Could she call them friends? Sure they had fought together, saved each other's lives more times then she could count, but were they friends? Spike was gone now and he was a friend.

He was, wasn't he?

What about the rest of them?

With that question in her thoughts, Faith slowly drifted to sleep.

XXXXX

Buffy woke with a start, trying to figure out where she was.

Willow was sleeping quietly in the bed next to her. This was so much better than the last place she woke up in. Buffy glanced at the clock. They still had quite some time before the car arrived. She snuggled up in the blankets, ignoring the scratchiness and savoring the comfort they gave her. Her thoughts drifted to Faith. Buffy knew she had to speak to her before they went their separate ways. She figured Spike was already gone by now and she knew Faith wouldn't be too far behind.

Buffy bolted up, realizing that she might already be too late. Faith could've already left. Buffy tossed the covers off and raced to the window. She peeked through the curtains to see if Faith's car was still there. Relief washed over her. It was parked right where they had left it the night before. Spying her change of clothes on the chair, Buffy dressed quickly and quietly, making sure not to wake Willow, and headed out the door.

XXXXX

Faith groaned loudly as she heard the knock on the door.

Who the hell could it be this time? All she wanted to do was sleep. She had been kidding about the 'Do Not Disturb' sign, but now she wished she really had one.

"I'm coming," she said, pulling the blanket off. She made her way slowly to the door, opening it without checking to see who was there. She used her hand as a shield to block the sun from her partially closed eyes. "B?"

"Hey, Faith," Buffy said.

Faith was suddenly alarmed. "Everything okay?"

Buffy shooed away the imaginary killer bees of alarm. "Everything's fine. I just wanted to talk to you. I didn't mean to wake you up, but I didn't want you to leave without me stopping by to, talk to you. Did I say sorry if I woke you?"

"Yo, B, bring it down a notch. Come on in," Faith said.

"Did you want to put something on?" Buffy asked.

Faith glanced down, noticing that she was dressed in a t-shirt and panties. "Why? Not like I'm naked." Then she noticed the discomfort in Buffy's eyes. "Jeez, B, I'll put my jeans on. Loosen up already."

Faith picked her jeans up off the floor and tugged them on. Sitting on the edge of the bed, she looked at Buffy. "So what's going on?"

Buffy eyed the chair and asked, "Can I sit?"

"Yeah," Faith said. "Sit. Don't know what's going on here, B, but you're freaking me out a little. What already?"

Buffy wouldn't even meet her eyes. Finally she spoke. "I just… there were some things. God, why is this so hard?" she asked, finally meeting Faith's eyes. "I know we haven't been… close in the past. There's always been this tension between us; stuff has happened, things were said and done, and I, kinda wanted to talk about that."

Faith ran her hands through her hair and rubbed her eyes so hard she saw spots. She finally opened them, letting them rest on Buffy.

"I've already apologized for… that," Faith said. "Don't know how many times I can say 'Sorry, B.' Times change. People change. I'm not the same person I was then. If you can't see that now…"

Buffy cut her off. "No, that's not what I meant. I wanted to tell you that… I know that now. I see it. I get it and I guess I accept it. I'm just sorry it took me so long to realize it."

What did she just say? B was apologizing? "What?" Faith asked, stunned.

"Well, with Angel, and he had fai… confidence in you. And after that with the jail thing. And then helping us out with The First. That all should've been enough for me, but it wasn't. But now, after all we've been through, I'd be pretty... shallow I guess, not to see it, for what's it worth."

Faith eyed here suspiciously. "What is it worth?"

"Friendship."

"Like you want to be… friends?"

"We could try. I know I didn't ask you the last time, but I'm asking you now." Buffy stood up and walked towards her. "Would you like to come back to Italy with us? We're still setting up pretty much and we could really use your help with all the new slayers coming in. What do you say?"

Truth be told, Faith had no idea what to say.

Buffy must have seen it in her eyes because she continued talking. "I already talked to Giles. He's all for it. He's sending a passport and all that other stuff so you can come with," Buffy added. "Will you come?"

"I don't know, B," Faith said, standing and pacing. "I don't know if I'm ready for that, for any of this."

"Is that why Spike left?"

"Because of me?" Faith asked. "Yes… and no. I wasn't ready for him either."

"Do you love him?"

"Do you?" Faith shot back and then regretted it immediately. "Sorry, old reflex."

Faith sat down on the foot of the bed and Buffy joined her.

"Gotta admit this is kinda bizarre, B. There was a time there when I tried to take your life from you. Now it kinda of feels like you're giving it to me."

"You mean what little life I have?"

"Please, B. You are The Slayer. You always will be, doesn't matter how many others are running around. You're the boss. And your friends, your family. You got a lot."

"In that case, then yep, I'm giving part of my life to you." Buffy smiled. "I don't want to be the boss anymore. You've been at this almost as long as I have. Kinda thinking that sharing will be a really good idea."

"You mean it?"

"Pretty much."

"You're not gonna want to hug or anything are you?"

Buffy laughed, crossing her heart. "No hugging. Honest."

"Can I think about it?"

"Yep, car won't be here until early afternoon."

Faith wanted to ask her. She had to know how Buffy felt about Spike and more specifically, how she felt about her and Spike.

"Hey, B?" Faith asked.

"Hmm?"

"Spike?"

"What about him?"

"I'm no expert in relationships and I admit I don't know much about you two, but you had a thing. And then he and I had a thing… and now he's gone and we're left. How exactly did that happen?"

It was Buffy's turn to start pacing. Faith didn't push her. If she'd learned anything, it was that B would talk when she was good and ready.

Buffy finally stopped and looked at her. "Spike will always have a place in my heart. Is it love? I don't know. I haven't been able to answer that question for a very long time. I care what happens to him. I missed him. I can talk to him about things I can't talk to other people about."

Faith could totally relate to that, but kept it to herself. This was B's turn to share.

"And yes, we had the physical part too, but that came at a time when I was in a place I don't ever want to go to again. So it's hard to look at it with an unbiased eye. I relate our being together that way to one of the darkest times of my life. Not a good starting point for a strong relationship and, let's face it, he's a vampire. Kinda limits our future, you know? And I might actually have one now. I never let myself think that way before."

Faith smiled. "Is that what you told him?" Faith saw the confusion in Buffy's eyes. "Spike told me you two talked. Wondered if you told him all that too."

Buffy was thoughtful for a moment. "Pretty much." She looked sad. "I will miss him. I told him that."

"Did you tell him you love him?"

"Honestly? Yes. Told him I loved three men in my life and he was one of them, but not in the way he wanted it to be." Buffy sat back down. "What about you two?"

"Pretty much the same. He said something about being love's bitch." Faith shrugged her shoulders. "Not quite sure what that meant."

"I could probably fill you in on that one day," Buffy said with a bittersweet smile. "Does he love you?"

"He never said it. I don't know. He cared… cares about me. I think he's still a little hung up on you, though. Beats me. Maybe that's part of the reason. I've lived in your shadow with the slaying, not quite ready to live there when it comes to him too."

"You don't have to live in my shadow Faith. You put yourself there. I didn't."

Faith knew Buffy was right. She was so busy trying to prove herself all the time; somewhere along the line she starting thinking that Buffy was the ideal she had to live up to. Not so much anymore. They were different. They were beyond different. Faith figured that didn't necessarily make Buffy better than her, did it?

Faith knew what she was going to do. She wasn't sure where it came from or what it meant, but in that moment it felt right to her.

"I must be crazy. I'm going against everything I've ever believed, but what the hell. I'll go. Maybe I'll bag me a true Italian and I hear the food there is the bomb," Faith blurted out.

"You'll come?"

"Why not? I only have one question."

"What is that?"

"What in the hell am I going to do with my Viper?"

The End

**_Broken-by Seether Feat, Amy lee" Lyric by "Evanescence"_**


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